text
stringlengths 465
100k
|
|---|
Well here’s a horrible piece of crap posted at Jezebel. Callie Beusman looks down on the protests in support of Amina because Islamophobia and white and European and blah.
While it is unquestionably necessary, brave, and noble to stand with Amina (who is reportedly not free to move or speak safely), the protests were distressingly and distractingly Islamophobic. A photo from one of shows a white woman with crescent moons covering her nipples, wearing a fake beard, a unibrow penciled in with eyeliner, and a bath towel on her head. Another photo, highlighted on FEMEN’s Facebook page is of a topless woman protesting at a mosque in San Francisco (because, when you’re fighting the good fight of “TITS AGAINST ISLAMISM,” standing topless in front of any mosque anywhere will do) with the following caption: TODAY IS AMINA TOPLESS JIHAD DAY. I was at the Islamic Mosque in San Francisco. Some Arab guy tried to grab my sign and pushed me in a violent way. My friend stopped him. MY BODY IS MY TEMPLE.
Callie Beusman is missing the point. Yes “some Arab guy” is not a helpful thing to say but then neither is “a white woman.”
Further down is a cartoon of a woman crawling out from under her burqa to light on fire the beard of a caricature of a Muslim man (or should I say “some Arab guy”?). In the comments, a woman posted a link to an Al Jazeera article about Muslim women counter-protesting the protest, as they rightfully feel that it was condescending and imperialistic in both tone and intent.
Well I “rightfully feel” that Carrie Beusman is being condescending herself, and that “imperialistic” is just stupid rhetoric.
The counter-protest, Muslimah Pride Day, calls for women to speak out for themselves on social media: [P]lease post pictures of your beautiful selves, whether you wear hijaab, nikaab or not. This is an opportunity for Muslim women to get a say and show people that we have a voice too, that we come in many different shapes and sizes that we object to the way we are depicted in the west, we object to the way we are lumped in to one homogenous group without a voice of agency of our own. FEMEN needs to recognize that Muslim women do in fact have agency, and the idea that Muslim women are helpless, passively indoctrinated by the alleged evils of Islam, and desperately need of Western feminist help is oppressive and orientalist. Patriarchy is not specific to Islam — although there are inarguably extreme and truly saddening examples of misogyny in the Muslim community, patriarchy is a global issue. Furthermore, feminism is not only a Western institution — to assume that Muslim women need someone to “speak for” them is insulting to all the grassroots political organizing and activism that Muslim feminists have done. It’s disturbing how a the rhetoric of “women’s liberation” has been co-opted to justify aggression, violence, and prejudice against Muslim communities. In what way is it appropriate to “rescue” women by indulging in and re-circulating essentializing, stereotyped, and offensive depictions of their culture?
How incredibly patronizing it is to assume that that is “their culture.” How patronizing and ignorant to assume that “Muslim women” are a monolith and all identify with the most harshly repressive and punitive elements in their “culture.” How ignorant to assume that all “Muslim women” adore the hijab and the niqab and rejoice to be urged to post pictures of themselves wearing them. How blinkered and parochial to disappear all liberal secular universalist rebellious Muslim women from the picture and side only with the most traditionalist and reactionary ones.
It’s what Maryam calls the racism of low expectations.
|
A former day care worker was charged on Monday after she allegedly burned five toddlers with a hot glue gun while another assistant stood by laughing during the incident, officials said.
Lizandra Cosme, 32, was arrested on Sunday and charged with five counts of aggravated battery to a child, Chicago Tribune reported. She appeared in court on Monday and is being held without bail.
Cosme is accused of burning three girls and two boys, ages 2, on Dec. 1 while working at the Children’s Learning Place in Chicago's Logan Square. It’s unclear how severe were the injuries.
Another woman Susana Gonzalez, 27, was also arrested and charged with five counts of causing the circumstance of endangering a child.
Prosecutors detailed in court a surveillance video where Cosme was seen squeezing out the hot liquid on the toddlers’ arms and hands. The 32-year-old was watching 16 children at the time, WLS reported. An assistant at the room allegedly laughed as she stood and watched the incident.
"Each of the child victims winced and some whined at the hot glue gun application," prosecutors said in court.
A mother notified the day care about burns she found on a child.
Lissa Druss Christman, spokeswoman for Children’s Learning Place said two employees were fired after officials were notified about the alleged incident.
“The well-being of our students is paramount,’’ Christman said in the statement. “Upon learning of the alleged incident, we notified DCFS immediately and terminated two of our employees.’’
Cosme is expected to return to court on Dec. 26.
|
LMC P3 (circled) is located in a supernova remnant called DEM L241 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small galaxy about 163,000 light-years away. The system is the first gamma-ray binary discovered in another galaxy and is the most luminous known in gamma rays, X-rays, radio waves and visible light.
For the first time ever, scientists have seen a double-star system in another galaxy emitting gamma-rays, the most energetic form of light.
The discovery was made by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Among all of these so-called gamma-ray binaries ever found, the new binary is the most luminous ever spotted, NASA officials said.
"Gamma-ray binaries are prized because the gamma-ray output changes significantly during each orbit, and sometimes over longer timescales," Robin Corbet, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and the lead researcher on a new study describing the findings, said in a statement. [Gamma-Ray Universe: Photos by NASA's Fermi Space Telescope]
The binary-star system is called LMC P3, and it's found in a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way called the Large Magellanic Cloud, some 163,000 light-years away. The system is located in the remnants of a supernova explosion, which is the last stage of a massive star's life.
LMC P3 (circled) is located in a supernova remnant called DEM L241 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small galaxy about 163,000 light-years away. The system is the first gamma-ray binary discovered in another galaxy and is the most luminous known in gamma rays, X-rays, radio waves and visible light.
Left behind today is a neutron star — the superdense core of the dead star — as well as a massive, active star. The active star is likely 25 to 40 times the sun's mass, and six times hotter than the sun, the researchers said. The neutron star is perhaps twice as massive as the sun, they said.
Gamma-ray systems are rare and usually include either a black hole or a neutron star. What makes LMC P3 even more astounding is that it is the brightest known binary system in not only gamma-rays but also X-rays, radio waves and visible light.
The X-ray source was spotted in 2012 using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, which located a young star much more massive than the sun. Beside it was some sort of compact object, which, at the time, scientists guessed could be either a black hole or a neutron star.
Then, in 2015, Corbet's team hunted for more gamma-ray binaries through data already collected by the Fermi telescope. They discovered one source that changes every 10.3 days, located very near where Chandra's find was.
The team also looked at LMC P3 in X-ray light with NASA's Swift satellite, in radio wavelengths with the Australia Telescope Compact Array, and in visible light with two telescopes: the 13.5-foot (4.1 meters) Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope in Chile and the 6.2-foot (1.9 m) telescope at the South African Astronomical Observatory near Cape Town.
The combined observations showed that LMC P3's brightest X-ray emissions are at a maximum when the gamma-rays are at a minimum, and vice versa. X-rays and radio waves are likely generated when the neutron star creates a "wind" of electrons accelerated to the speed of light, the researchers said.
Observations from Fermi's Large Area Telescope (magenta line) show that gamma rays from LMC P3 rise and fall over the course of 10.3 days. The companion is thought to be a neutron star. Illustrations across the top show how the changing position of the neutron star relates to the gamma-ray cycle. (Image: © NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center)
The X-ray emissions peak (as seen from Earth) when the neutron star passes closest to our planet in its orbit. The "wind" also creates gamma-rays when light from the star crashes into the electrons; the gamma-rays are best seen when the neutron star is at its nearest to the active star (which happens to be when it is farthest from Earth.)
"It is certainly a surprise to detect a gamma-ray binary in another galaxy before we find more of them in our own [galaxy]," Guillaume Dubus, a team member at the Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics of Grenoble in France, said in the same statement.
"One possibility is that the gamma-ray binaries Fermi has found are rare cases where a supernova formed a neutron star with exceptionally rapid spin, which would enhance how it produces accelerated particles and gamma-rays," Dubus added.
A paper based on the research will appear in the Oct. 1 issue of The Astrophysical Journal.
Follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace, or Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
|
Home school advocate Sam Sorbo -- (Fox News screen grab)
The wife of actor Kevin Sorbo appeared on Fox & Friends Friday morning to direly warn that public schools are enslaving our children by teaching them about socialism — and Bernie Sanders is to blame.
Sam Sorbo, who has written a book about the joys of homeschooling, showed up to talk about keeping your kids home to be educated, when talk predictably turned to Common Core standards and to politics in the classroom, reports Media Matters.
After Sorbo complained that parents were “ceding their authority over the children” to teachers every time they dropped kids off at school, host Steve Doocy pointed out, “I think everybody who could would like to home school, but they’re think, ‘hmm, when they’re in high school I’d have to teach them trigonometry.'”
“Look, our public schools are broken. Everybody admits they’re broken. There have been nine overhauls of the public school system. Nine overhauls have been inadequate,” Sorbo replied. “Now we’ve got Common Core. Did you know that there’s no testing on Common Core? They implemented it without even knowing that it would work.”
Fox host Ainsley Earnhardt jumped in to support Sorbo, adding, “If you’re in doubt, ask any schoolteacher out there. Because they’ll tell you all the work they have to take home, all the bureaucracy now in schools.”
Sorbo then turned the conversation into a rant about socialism using the rise of Vermont Senator Sanders — a self-described democratic socialist — as the source of what ails America.
“But here we have a system that is indoctrinating our children into slavery and the proof of that is Bernie Sanders,” Sorbo asserted. “Because you have a whole group of students now who believe in socialism. And they weren’t taught that socialism is the greatest form of slavery known to mankind. It has murdered in the hundreds of millions of people. And yet, we have young people who believe in socialism and they’re voting for Bernie Sanders.”
“It’s an outrage,” she concluded.
Watch the video below via Media Matters:
|
On May 2, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sat down for an exclusive two-hour interview with TIME editor Nancy Gibbs, Asia editor Zoher Abdoolcarim and South Asia bureau chief Nikhil Kumar in New Delhi. Speaking mostly in Hindi, Modi talked about everything from his ambitions for India to the global war on terrorism to what personally moves him. Translated and condensed highlights, followed by the full interview:
On what he has learned so far about running India: The biggest challenge was that I was new to the federal government structures. Different departments tend to work in silos—each department seems to [be] a government in itself. My effort has been to break these silos down, [so that] everybody … looks at a problem in a collective manner. I see the federal government not as an assembled entity but as an organic entity.
On how he sees the U.S.: We are natural allies … [It’s not] what India can do for the U.S., what the U.S. can do for India … The way we should look at it is what India and the U.S. can together do for the world … strengthening democratic values all over.
On India’s sometimes tense relations with China: For nearly three decades there has been, by and large, peace and tranquility on the India-China border. Not a single bullet has been fired for over a quarter-century. Both countries are showing great maturity and a commitment to economic cooperation.
On the possibility of the Taliban’s returning to power in Afghanistan: The drawdown of U.S. troops is, of course, an independent decision of the American government, but in the interest of a stable government in Afghanistan, it would be important to hold consultations with the Afghan government to understand their security needs as the U.S. troops draw down.
On tackling the threat of terrorism: We should not look at terrorism from the nameplates—which group they belong to, what is their geographical location, who are the victims. These individual groups or names will keep changing. Today you are looking at the Taliban or ISIS; tomorrow you might be looking at another name.
We should pass the U.N.’s Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. At least it will clearly establish whom you view as a terrorist and whom you don’t. We need to delink terrorism from religion—to isolate terrorists who use this interchange of arguments between terrorism and religion.
Several countries used to see terrorism as a law-and-order situation of individual countries. We should see it as something that is a fight for human values.
On whether economic reforms have gone far and fast enough: [This time] last year, nothing seemed to be happening in the government. There seemed to be a complete policy paralysis … There was no leadership. My government’s coming to power should be viewed in the context of the developments of the 10 years of the last government vs. 10 months of my government … The whole world is, once again, excited and enthusiastic about India and the opportunities that India represents. Whether it is the IMF, the World Bank, Moody’s or other credit agencies, they are all saying in one voice that India has a great economic future.
(Read TIME’s cover story about Narendra Modi)
On whether he would like to have the kind of authoritarian power that China’s leader has: India is a democracy; it is in our DNA. As far as the different political parties are concerned, I firmly believe that they have the maturity and wisdom to make decisions that are in the best interests of the nation. So if you were to ask me whether you need a dictatorship to run India, No, you do not. Whether you need a powerful person who believes in concentrating power, No, you do not. If you were to ask me to choose between democratic values and wealth, power, prosperity and fame, I will very easily and without any doubt choose democratic values.
On India’s religious diversity, which some citizens believe is under siege: My philosophy, the philosophy of my party and the philosophy of my government is Sabka saath, sabka vikas—“Together with all, progress for all.” Take everybody together and move toward inclusive growth. Wherever a [negative] view might have been expressed [about] a minority religion, we have immediately negated that. So far as the government is concerned, there is only one holy book, which is the constitution of India. The unity and the integrity of the country are the topmost priorities. All religions and all communities have the same rights, and it is my responsibility to ensure their complete and total protection. My government will not tolerate or accept any discrimination based on caste, creed and religion.
On what influences him: [Chokes and tears up.] This touches my deepest core. I was born in a very poor family. I used to sell tea in a railway coach as a child. My mother used to wash utensils and do lowly household work in the houses of others to earn a livelihood. I have seen poverty very closely. I have lived in poverty. As a child, my entire childhood was steeped in poverty. For me, poverty, in a way, was the first inspiration of my life … I decided that I would not live for myself but would live for others.
***
Read the full interview:
Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi: Welcome to India, first of all. This is your first visit to India and I am delighted that on your very first visit we have a chance to meet. I hope this opportunity, this visit of yours, will also provide you an occasion to return to India more often.
TIME: Thank you, we hope so as well. I should start by wishing you a happy anniversary. It is almost one year now in office. So, I am curious about what has surprised you most. You often talked about being an outsider. Now that you are the ultimate insider, what have you seen about the strengths and the opportunities and the obstacles that you face in the program that you are hoping to pursue?
Modi: For more than forty years now, I have had an opportunity and chance to travel all across India. There would perhaps be more than 400 districts of India where I have spent a night. So I am fully aware of the strengths of India, I am fully aware of the challenges that we face, I am not unaware of them. What was relatively new to me was the Federal government structures, the systems, the way we operate at the Federal level. That was a part which I was not aware of till I entered the government here.
See The History of US—India Relations in 12 Photos Ivan Dmitri—Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images PhotoQuest/Getty Images AP Larry Burrows—The TIME & LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images AP Charles Harrity—AP Diana Walker—The TIME & LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images T.C. Malhotra—Getty Images Prakash Singh—AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Pedro Ugarte—AFP/Getty Images Lucas Jackson—Reuters 1 of 12 Advertisement
The biggest challenge I think was that I was new to the Federal government structures. They were new to me, I was new to them, so there was a question of understanding each other’s perspective. But within a very short time I have bridged the gap through very focused and concentrated actions. There is now a meeting of minds. I understand them very well, they understand me very well. Because of that, within a very short period of time, we have been able to establish a smooth, seamless working mechanism within the Federal structure.
I was Chief Minister of the State of Gujarat for a long period of time. I knew very well what the Central government thought about the States of India and what State governments thought of the Federal government. I wanted to change this thought process, the fundamental thought process as to how the Federal Government and the State governments perceive each other. I wanted the Federal Government and the State Governments to work together for the country. I basically wanted to bring about a complete change in the thinking that Federal government is a giver to the State government, and the State government is a recipient of the largesse from the Federal government. And I think within a very short period of time, I have managed to achieve that objective to a very large extent.
I coined a term for that, which I call cooperative Federalism. I took it actually a step further and called it cooperative competitive Federalism. Essentially the concept is that it would encourage different State governments to compete with each other for the growth of the country. What essentially I have tried to do, and I think we have managed to do that, is to convert the country from a single-pillar growth nation to a nation that has 30 pillars of growth; these are the 29 States of India and the Federal centre.
Similarly, it was my experience after I entered the Federal government that different departments of the Government of India tend to work in silos. Each department seems to work as a Government in itself. The reason for that is that for the last three decades, there has not been a majority government at the Federal level; there have essentially been coalition governments, which has had a major impact on the government systems which created silos. My effort has been to ensure that these silos get broken down, that there is a collective thought process which is brought about in the Federal government. And I think we have managed to achieve that in a short period of time wherein everybody thinks together as a collective, everybody works together. And also it has invigorated the administrative system of the Federal government which looks at a problem in a collective manner rather than as individual silos.
I see the Federal government not as an assembled entity but as an organic entity so that each one understands the problems of the other and can collectively work together to address those problems.
(PHOTOS: Behind TIME’s Cover With Narendra Modi)
TIME: Moving on to the US, the US-India relationship, President Obama has spoken very highly of you including on the Time 100 very recently. As you go transforming India, transforming the government as you say, how do you think the US should see you – as a partner, as an economic competitor? Would “Make in India” for example mean that jobs from the US would come here? So, the debate that we had on the service sector, would that not switch to manufacturing sector? How should the US see you?
Modi: I am extremely grateful to President Obama for the thoughtful and generous manner in which he has described me. What he has written in TIME magazine recently, I am also very grateful to him.
If I have to describe the India-US relationship in a single word, I will say we are natural allies. I think the relationship between India and US, and the two countries in themselves, have played an enormously important role and continue to play an important role in strengthening democratic values all over the world.
What should the India-US relationship be, what India can do for the US, what the US can do for India, I think that is a rather limited point of view to take. I think the way we should look at it is what India and the US can together do for the world. That is the perspective in which we approach our relationship with the United States.
(Read Barack Obama’s tribute to Narendra Modi)
TIME: You have visited 16 countries already in this year. Who would you say are your other natural allies?
Modi: I think this is an expected question from a journalistic point of view! I think each country has its own importance and each relationship has to be viewed in its own perspective. There are several countries of the world with which India has strategic partnerships. There are several other countries with which we have a relationship that is comprehensive in some other respects. There are some which are perhaps born to be there as natural allies, but there are still gaps to be covered in order for us to become natural allies. So I think it is important for us to see each relationship in an overall perspective and also how India approaches that relationship with each country.
If you look at the India-US relationship for example, the role that the Indian diaspora has played in the relationship is extremely crucial. Yes, we share democratic values but there is also the great role that the Indian diaspora has played in strengthening the bond of friendship between India and the US, and of course in underscoring the democratic values between the two countries.
Also our worldview… in addition to our shared democratic values, there are convergences in our worldview on different situations in the world. So, if I were to describe the relationship with other countries, I would say that each relationship of India with other countries has to be seen in a context and a perspective that is different from each other.
TIME: Prime Minister, you will be visiting China very soon. China is increasingly assertive and influential on the world stage including in the South Asia region. China and India have fought a border war before, and sometimes the relationship, the atmosphere can be tense. With your visit to China and your meeting with China’s leaders, what kind of relationship do you want to forge with China? Do you think you can do business with China’s leaders? Can India and China ever be friends?
Modi: After the India-China war in 1962, in the early 90s, India and China agreed on a framework for peace and tranquillity on the border. Further, since nearly last three decades until this time that we have entered into the 21st century, there is by and large peace and tranquillity on the India-China border. It is not a volatile border. Not a single bullet has been fired for over a quarter of a century now. This essentially goes to prove that both countries have learnt from history.
In so far as the India-China relationship is concerned specifically, it is true that there is a long border between India and China and a large part of it is disputed. Still, I think both countries have shown great maturity in the last couple of decades to ensure and commit to economic cooperation which has continued to grow over the last 20 to 30 years to a stage where we currently have an extensive trade, investment and project related engagement between the two countries. Given the current economic situation in the world, we are at a stage where we cooperate with China at the international stage but we also compete with China when it comes to commerce and trade.
You referred to the increase in Chinese influence in the region and in the world. I firmly believe that there is not a single country in the world, whether its population is one million or much more, which would not want to increase its influence internationally. I think it is a very natural tendency for the nations to increase their influence in the international space, as they pursue their international relations with different countries. I firmly believe that with due regard to international rules and regulations, and with full respect for human values, I think with these two perspectives in mind each country has the right to increase its presence, its impact and influence internationally for the benefit of the global community.
TIME: I just wanted to ask a follow-up question. On the eve of your visit to China, would you wish to send a special message to President Xi? Would you like to say something to him on the eve of your visit?
Modi: I firmly believe that the relationship between two countries, the India-China relationship as you are referring to, should be such that to communicate with each other there should really not be a need for us to go through a third entity. That is the level of relationship that we currently have.
TIME: The US is gradually drawing down its forces in Afghanistan. I am wondering whether you worry about the Taliban returning to power, and about the threat from ISIS and how you see that.
Modi: There are two different perspectives to the question that you asked and I would try and answer each of those two separately. The first refers to the India-Afghanistan relationship. It is well known that India and Afghanistan have enjoyed ancient ties and a very close relationship. People talk of infrastructure development these days. But if you go back in history, you’ll see that one of the former kings in the region Sher Shah Suri is the one who built the Kolkata-Kabul Grand Trunk Road.
The closeness of the India-Afghanistan relationship is not a new phenomenon. It has existed since time immemorial. And as a close friend, ever since India’s Independence, we have done and will continue to do whatever is required to be done to see Afghanistan grow and progress as a close friend.
President Ashraf Ghani was here last week. We had a good meeting and extensive discussions. One of the key points of discussions was the roadmap for development and progress in Afghanistan. We have in the past committed extensively to that. In fact, India’s assistance to Afghanistan is close to about 2.2 billion dollars for reconstruction and development. We have made further commitments to do whatever is required to be done for Afghanistan’s development. And not only have we made commitments, we are also taking concrete and specific steps to implement those commitments.
In so far as the drawdown of US troops from Afghanistan is concerned, this is a point on which I had extensive discussions with President Obama when I visited the US in September last year. I mentioned to him that the drawdown of troops is of course an independent decision of the American government, but in the interest of a stable government in Afghanistan, it would be important to hold consultations with the Afghan Government to understand their security needs as the US troops draw down. And I did mention to him that we should all try to meet the security needs of Afghanistan post drawdown of American troops. Rest of course is a decision that is for the US Government to take. But our interest is in ensuring peace and stability in Afghanistan; and whatever is required to be done for that, we will do that.
In so far as the Taliban and the ISIS issue which you referred to is concerned, I firmly believe that there is a need for the international community to undertake a detailed introspection of the overall perspective, the way they have looked at terrorism internationally. Till 1993, for example, there were several countries that did not fully understand the full force of this evil. They used to see it and they used to appreciate it purely as a law and order situation of individual countries rather than as an evil force internationally.
If you actually analyze the situation closely, what is needed perhaps is for the countries that believe in human values to come together and fight terrorism. We should not look at terrorism from the nameplates – which group they belong to, what are their names, what is their geographical location, who are the victims of terrorism…I think we should not see them in individual pieces. We should rather have a comprehensive look at the ideology of terrorism, see it as something that is a fight for human values, as terrorists are fighting against humanity.
So, all the countries that believe in human values need to come together and fight this evil force as an ideological force, and look at it comprehensively rather than looking at it as Taliban, ISIS, or individual groups or names. These individual groups or names will keep changing. Today you are looking at the Taliban or ISIS; tomorrow you might be looking at another name down the years. So it is important for the countries to go beyond the groups, beyond the individual names, beyond the geographical location they come from, beyond even looking at the victims of the terrorism, and fight terrorism as a unified force and as a collective.
TIME: So, what would we do differently if that coming together happened, if we looked at this threat more in the way you are describing; what would change in the way the threat is addressed?
Modi: I think as a first step what the international community can definitely look at is passing the United Nations Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism which has been with the United Nations for the last several years. I think that could be the first step for us to take. At least it will clearly establish who you view as terrorist and who you do not view as terrorist. The definitional aspects of terrorism will get addressed.
The second thing which is important to do is not to analyze or look at terrorism from a purely political perspective but also view it from the perspective of the way it attacks human values, as a force against humanity, the point that I made earlier on. If you view terrorism in Syria from one perspective and terrorism outside Syria from another perspective, it can create problems. If you view terrorism in categories such as good terrorism and bad terrorism, that too can create its own challenges. Similarly, if you view Taliban as good Taliban or bad Taliban, that creates its own problems.
I think we should not look at these questions individually. We should address this problem in one voice, not in segmented voices – something which diffuses the international focus when it comes to the problem of terrorism. I believe that this can be easily done.
I think the other thing that we need to undertake as a focused measure is to delink terrorism from religion. When I met President Obama both in September last year and in January this year, in September last year particularly, I did request him to lead the charge in delinking terrorism from religion. I think if we are able to achieve this and if we go down this path, it would at least put an end to the emotional blackmailing which is inherent in this particular concept. It would also help us additionally to isolate the terrorists completely who tend to use this interchange of arguments between terrorism and religion.
Another aspect which is important in our collective fight against terrorism is the question relating to the communication technology, the communication methodology that the terrorists use, and the modes of financing. Terrorists are linked to money laundering, dirty money, drug dealing, arms trafficking. We have to ask ourselves, where do terrorists get their weapons from? Where do they get their communication technology from? Where do they get their financing from? These are some of the aspects where I think the entire international community needs to come together and put a complete stop to access to these three key aspects by the terrorists which assist them in terms of easy access to communication, finance and weapons.
If we pass the UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism and if we take the steps that I have just listed out, it will help the international community, help all of us to isolate those countries that stand in support of terrorism.
TIME: Prime Minister, you were mentioning about delinking terrorism from religion. You mentioned Taliban, you mentioned ISIS. The other two groups that are creating a lot of headlines worldwide with their activities are Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab in Africa. All of them claim to be doing what they are doing on behalf of Islam. Do you think that the Islamic world, Islam’s world leaders should be doing more in their own communities to moderate those who are radicals, to do more on the education front and to cooperate more to fight these?
Modi: When the initial question was asked there was reference to Taliban and ISIS. That is why when I framed my reply and I started my response, I basically prefaced it by saying that we have to look beyond individual groups. I did not respond specifically to the Taliban or to ISIS, but I responded to the need for the international community to look at this problem from a larger perspective and not from the individual perspectives of the nameplates or the groups that I referred to.
I think terrorism is a thought process. It is a thought process that is a great threat to the international community. I am also not linking it to any particular religion or to the actions of religious leaders. I think it is something that, as I mentioned, the countries that believe in human values need to come together and fight as a collective and not looking at individual groups from the perspective of individual religions.
TIME: If I could go back to two things that you said earlier, Prime Minister, you said that every country tries to increase its influence, sphere of influence. Sometimes that is obviously not very positive. One was what the US and India can both do together in the world. But one thing that the US is doing right now is trying to counter Russia’s influence in Ukraine. Do you support international sanctions against Russia?
Modi: This issue was raised in the G20 Summit. President Obama was present there, President Putin was present there, and I presented my viewpoint in the presence of both the Presidents. My view was that there are United Nations guidelines, there are provisions in the United Nations; and I think whatever is agreed within the framework of United Nations, the international community should follow it.
TIME: Another big international issue that is coming up is the Paris Climate Summit later this year. Will India specify a peak for its emission, a cap on its emission?
Modi: In the entire world, if you analyse very closely the cultural and the civilizational history of different countries, particularly looking at the lifestyle which they have followed over decades and centuries of their history, you will find that this part of the world, India in particular, has advocated and pursued economic growth in coexistence, in close bonding, with Nature for thousands of years of its history. In this part of the world, in Indian civilization in particular, the principle value is that exploitation of Nature is a crime, and we should only draw from Nature what is absolutely essential for your needs and not exploit it beyond that.
If I may, in a somewhat lighter vein, recount a practice that is very common in the Indian cultural frame… it is that when you wake up in the morning and get off the bed, you step on to mother earth, causing it pain. What we teach our children is that earth is your mother that provides; she’s a giver. So, please first ask forgiveness from the mother earth before you step on to it and cause it pain.
We also teach in our cultural history that the entire universe is a family. For example, Indian bedtime stories – including school books – are quite replete with references to the Moon as maternal uncle and Sun as a grandfather. So when we view these aspects purely from the perspective of a family, our association with Nature is much deeper and of a very different kind.
Insofar as the question specifically related to COP21 is concerned, I think if you look at the whole world, and the whole issue of climate change, if there is one part of the world which can provide natural leadership on this particular cause, it is this part of the world. Insofar as my specific role and responsibility is concerned, I am acutely conscious and aware of that. In fact, when I was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, my government was probably the fourth State government in the world to establish a Climate Change Department within my particular State. And we closely linked its work to the growth policy that we adopted in the State.
In future too, in terms of initiatives that we are going to take, there is going to be a heavy focus on using energy that is environment friendly. For example, we have launched a huge initiative in the field of renewable energy by setting a target for ourselves of 175 GW from renewable sources – 100 GW from the solar sector and 75 GW from the wind sector. It is really an immense and huge initiative of my government.
I have undertaken another mission mode project that we call Clean Ganga Mission. It is essentially on the re-invigoration of the river Ganges. River Ganges has a flow line of about 2,500 KM. Roughly 40 per cent of India’s population is either directly or indirectly linked to this river. It is not merely a Clean Ganga Initiative, not just cleaning of a river; it is actually a huge developmental initiative whose primary focus is to undertake development that is environment friendly.
In fact – and I say this to the entire international community – that those who believe in undertaking environment-friendly development in their own countries, I invite them to come and be partners in the cleaning of river Ganges which I think, as I said earlier, is essentially an environment-friendly growth and development model focussed on preservation of environment.
I have undertaken these mission-mode environment preservation steps in several layers. One layer, for example, pertains to the saving of energy. We have made it a nation-wide campaign to distribute and to ensure popularity of LED bulbs – something which essentially reduces the carbon emission and carbon footprint of energy consumption nationally.
For the farmers in India, I have launched an initiative called the Soil Health Card. It is essentially a system through which we inform the farmer of the toxicity in the soil which he is cultivating. The idea is to approach this entire issue in a scientific way and advise the farmer about his next steps in terms of reduced use of chemical fertilizers, in terms of increased use of organic fertilizers so that the fertility of the soil is preserved. Naturally, this reduces the environmental burden of agricultural cultivation within the country. For the Himalayan region of India, I want to convert it into the organic cultivation capital for the entire world.
I will talk of another measure which may seem like a small measure but which has a great environmental impact within the country. In India we provide to the households subsidized LPG gas cylinders for cooking. Sometime ago, I requested the rich and the wealthy to give up their gas cylinder subsidy to free up the usage of the cooking gas cylinders. Within a short period of time, about 400,000 families gave up their subsidized gas cylinders. My objective is to pass on the freed-up gas cylinders to the poor families which will help us achieve three objectives. Firstly, they would stop using the forest wood for cooking purposes which will prevent the degradation of the forests. Second, it will reduce carbon emissions because burning of the forest wood has a higher carbon footprint. Third, it will also reduce the health problems which are caused in poor families when they burn forest wood for cooking. So, essentially we try to achieve all the three objectives – reduce carbon footprint, reduce forest degradation, yet improve the health of the poor families through this very simple environment friendly measure.
Another decision that we have recently announced clubs together two concepts – providing rural employment and increasing the green cover in rural areas; we have provided a quantum of Rs. 40,000 crore (approx. $ 6.7 billion) to afforest the rural land, provide employment in rural areas, leading to conservation of environment.
Another measure we have taken is to build Metro mass transportation facilities in 50 cities of India. Similarly, in 500 cities of India, we have started elaborate waste water treatment and solid waste management plans. The idea is to build these facilities through public private partnerships by using global competitive aspects. All these measures which I have described have been taken in the last 10 months with the principle objective of ensuring that our economic growth is environment friendly.
The second aspect that I keep pointing out but perhaps international community is still not ready to focus on it or does not focus on it yet, is the need to change our lifestyles. I think the throw-away culture, the culture of disposables, causes a huge burden on the environment. I think recycling, or the re-usage of the resources of the earth, is an important aspect which should be ingrained in our daily lifestyle. I think it is important to change our lifestyles.
TIME: Prime Minister, you have talked about the economic and development reforms that you have been introducing in India, but there are other benchmarks of progress. President Obama said earlier this year that for India to succeed, it is critical that the nation does not splinter along religious lines. What would you make from President Obama’s remarks?
Modi: India is a civilization with a history that is thousands of years old. If you analyze the history of India carefully, you will probably not come across a single incident where India has attacked another country. Similarly you will not find any references in our history where we have waged war based on ethnicity or religion. The diversity of India, of our civilization, is actually a thing of beauty, which is something we are extremely proud of. Our philosophy of life, something that we have lived for thousands of years, is also reflected in our constitution. Our constitution has not come out of any abstract insularity. It essentially reflects our own civilizational ethos of equal respect for all religions. As Indian scriptures say, “Truth is one but sages call it by different names”. Similarly, Swami Vivekananda, when he travelled to Chicago for the World Congress of Religions, had said that respecting religions is not simply a question of universal tolerance; it is a question of believing that all religions are true. So it is a positive approach and aspect that India and Indian civilization take towards religion. If you look at one of the micro minorities of the world, the Parsi community, it has probably flourished the maximum in India. One of our Chiefs of Army Staff has been from the Parsi community. One of our biggest industrialists is from the Parsi community. A Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was from this micro minority community. So for us, the acceptance of all religions is in our blood, it is there in our civilization. It is ingrained in our system to work together, taking all the religions along with us.
My philosophy, the philosophy of my party and the philosophy also of my government is, what I call ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas’, which essentially means, “Together with all, progress for all”. So, the underlying philosophy and the impulse of that particular motto is to take everybody together and move towards inclusive growth.
TIME: As we are heading to the US political campaign, a lot of America’s political leaders are talking about the role that their faith plays and their views of themselves as leaders. Could you talk a little about what your faith of Hinduism means to you as India’s leader?
Modi: Religion and faith are very personal matters. So far as the government is concerned, there is only one holy book, which is the Constitution of India.
In fact, if I look at the definition of Hinduism, the Supreme Court of India has given a beautiful definition; it says that Hinduism is not a religion, it is actually a way of life.
If one looks at my own belief, I think I have grown up with these values which I mentioned earlier, that religion is a way of life. We also say ‘Vasudhaiv Kutumbkam’ – the entire world is one family, and respect for all religions. Those are the values I have grown up with.
Essentially the crux of Indian philosophy, the Hindu philosophy, is that all should be happy, all should be healthy, all should live life to the fullest. It is not something that is specific to a particular religion, or to a particular sect. It’s a philosophy, it’s a way of life which encompasses all societies.
And Hinduism is a religion with immense depth and vast diversity. For example, the one who does idol worship is a Hindu and one who hates idol worship can also be a Hindu.
TIME: Mr. Prime minister, some members of your party have said some unkind things about minority religions in India and we do understand that Muslim, Christians, some others have worried about the future of their practicing their faith in India and we are trying to understand that you are saying that under your leadership, they should not be worried?
Modi: In so far the Bhartiya Janata Party and my government are concerned, we absolutely do not believe in this type of ideology. And wherever an individual view might have been expressed with regard to a particular minority religion, we have immediately negated that. So far as BJP and my government are concerned, as I mentioned earlier, there is only one holy book of reference, which is the Constitution of India. For us, the unity and the integrity of the country are the top most priorities. All religions and all communities have the same rights and it is my responsibility to ensure their complete and total protection. My Government will not tolerate or accept any discrimination based on caste, creed, and religion. So there is no place for imaginary apprehensions with regard to the rights of the minorities in India.
TIME: Prime Minister, if I could go back to your election last year. A key thing and the most important was the economy that was spoken about. But here on, a lot of investors have begun to ask questions about the pace of reform, is it fast enough? That the economy basically benefitted from falling oil prices… What you make of those questions about the pace at which you have reformed and what reforms you are planning as you are going to your second year?
Modi: If you were to pick up the news papers for the period March-May 2014 last year and read them, you will actually get the context and key aspects of the context in which we were approaching the elections at that time. One of which was that nothing seemed to be happening in the Government. There seemed to be a complete policy paralysis at that time. Two, corruption had spread throughout the system. Three, there was no leadership; it was a weak government at the centre. That was the context and the background in which I was elected. My election, my government’s coming into power last year in 2014, should be viewed in the context of the developments over the last ten years in the country before May 2014. So you need to see ten years of the last government versus ten months of my government.
You will actually see that, internationally, the whole world is, once again, excited and enthusiastic about India and the opportunities that India represents. Another way to look at it is that, at the start of the 21st century, the term BRIC was coined to represent the four major emerging economies. The assessment was that the BRIC countries will drive international economic growth. Six-seven years before 2014, a view started emerging that ‘I’ in the BRIC had perhaps become less relevant or perhaps even a drag on the BRIC grouping.
In the last 10 months, the ‘I’ has reclaimed its position in the BRICS. Internationally, whether it is the IMF, the World Bank, Moody’s or other credit agencies, they are all saying in one voice, that India has a great economic future. It is progressing at a fast pace and has again become a factor of growth and stability in the international economic system. India is now one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
The last ten months clearly prove that so far as the expectations of the people are concerned, both in the country and internationally, we are moving very rapidly to fulfil those expectations.
I have in my mind a very clear outline of the framework of what we are going to do in the next five years. What we have done in the last one year is precisely as per that plan. And in the next four years, we have step-by-step measures that would unfold as we go along. So far as the reform process in the last eleven months is concerned, it is not simply a question of policy reforms that my government has taken. We have also undertaken focused administrative reforms. To establish (i) ease of doing business; (ii) making government more accountable; (iii) reforms at the level of technology and governance; (iv) reforms at all layers of the government, whether it’s local government or state government or central government. We have essentially taken the reform process to an entirely different level where both the Federal and the state level respond through a policy-based and administrative reform system.
The biggest reform since India’s independence in the field of taxation that is coming up is the GST and it is our expectation that we would start implementing it from the 2016 fiscal year.
Another example is increasing the Foreign Direct Investment cap in the field of insurance to 49%. This was stuck for the last 7 – 8 years and was not making any progress. We ensured that it was passed by the parliament within the first year of our government.
TIME: Prime Minister, when some people compare China and India’s economic development, there are some people who say that China has been much faster and much more successful because it is a one-party state in which the leader of the party can basically dictate his and his Cabinet’s policies. India of course is a democracy. You have a mandate in the Lower House of Parliament. You do not have a majority in the Upper House. Things like for example your new Land Acquisitions Law can run into obstacles because of the system that India has. Do you sometimes think that you would love to have President Xi’s power to push things through?
Modi: India by its very nature is a democracy. It is not just as per our Constitution that we are a democratic country; it is in our DNA. In so far as different political parties of India are concerned, I firmly believe that they have the maturity and wisdom to make decisions that are in the best interests of the nation. I firmly believe that for us, democracy and belief in democratic values, are a matter of faith, which are spread across all political parties in the country. It is true that we do not have a majority in the Upper House. Despite that, if you look at the productivity of the Parliament, it has actually been quite an achievement under our government. In Lok Sabha, the Lower House of the Parliament, productivity has been about 124% whereas productivity in the Upper House has been about 107%. Overall, it conveys a very positive message of legislative action. In all, about 40 bills have been passed in the Parliament. So if you were to ask me whether you need dictatorship to run India, no, you do not. Whether you need a dictatorial thought to run the country, no, you do not. Whether you need a powerful person who believes in concentrating power at one place, no you do not. If anything is required to take India forward, it is an innate belief in democracy and democratic values. I think that is what is needed and that is what we have. If you were to ask me at a personal level to choose between democratic values on the one hand, and wealth, power, prosperity and fame on the other hand, I will very easily and without any doubt choose democracy and belief in democratic values.
TIME: One of the aspects, one of the pillars of a democracy is freedom of speech. Earlier this year, the authorities in India banned a documentary about the terrible rape case that took place in December of 2012. Why did the authorities do that and what are to you the limits of free speech? Do you think free speech should have some limits?
Modi: There are two different things which are dealt in this question and I will try to address them both. But, first in a somewhat lighter vein, if I could just recount a well-known episode about Galileo. He had propounded the principles of revolution of the earth around the sun but in the societal paradigm at that particular time, those principles were against what was enshrined in the Bible and a decision was taken to imprison Galileo at that time.
Now India is a civilization where the principle and philosophy of sacrifice is ingrained as part of our upbringing. If you take that as a background and look at our history, there used to be another great thinker of the time called Charvaka who propounded a theory of extreme hedonism which was contradictory to the Indian ethos. He essentially said that “You do not have to worry about tomorrow, just live, eat, make merry today”. But even he with those extreme thoughts, which were totally contradictory to the Indian ethos, was equated to a sage and accommodated and given space to express his views in the Indian society.
So in so far as freedom of speech is concerned, there is absolutely not an iota of doubt in terms of our commitment and our belief in that.
If you look at the issue related to the telecast of the documentary that you referred, it is not a question of freedom of speech, it is more a legal question. It has two or three aspects. One aspect is that the identity of the rape victim should not be revealed which would have happened if this interview was allowed to be telecast. Two, the case is still sub judice and the telecast which features the interview of the person who is alleged to have committed the crime could have impacted the judicial process. Three, it is also our responsibility to ensure protection of the victim. If we had allowed such a thing to happen, in effect, we would have violated the dignity of the victim. So I do not think it is a question of freedom of speech, it is more a question of law and respecting the victim and the judicial processes in this particular case. In so far as freedom of speech is concerned, as I mentioned earlier, there is absolutely no issue. It is something that we greatly respect as an important aspect of our democratic values.
TIME: I wonder if I might ask one last question before we turn you over to Peter, who is very eager. We talk a lot about influence and in the Time 100, these are people who we think right now are exerting an enormous influence on the world stage, can you tell us who has influenced you the most?
Modi: The question that you have asked actually touches my deepest core. I was born in a very poor family. I used to sell tea in a railway coach as a child. My mother used to wash utensils and do lowly household work in the houses of others to earn a livelihood.
I have seen poverty very closely. I have lived in poverty. As a child, my entire childhood was steeped in poverty. For me, poverty, in a way, was the first inspiration of my life, a commitment to do something for the poor. I decided that I would not live for myself but would live for others and work for them. My experience of growing up in poverty deeply impacted my childhood. Then, at the age of 12 or 13, I started reading the works of Swami Vivekananda. That gave me courage and a vision, it sharpened and deepened my sensitivities and gave me a new perspective and a direction in life. At the age of 15 or 16, I decided to dedicate myself to others and till date I am continuing to follow that decision.
India's Elections: Snapshots From the World's Biggest Vote Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images Kevin Frayer—Getty Images 1 of 28 Advertisement
Contact us at [email protected].
|
From day one when I started working at Automattic, there was a strong focus put on different tools and apps that would help out with our daily tasks. Everybody is a power user, with their own tips and tricks, which means there are plenty of different things to explore.
One of the tools that was used by a few people, and championed by my pal Bryan is Alfred (If you don’t use a Mac, sorry, you may as well stop reading now). At first I was suspicious. I installed the app, but was never all that convinced. It didn’t fit neatly into my existing workflows, and it felt more like a hinderance than a help. In the past couple of months though, Alfred has become indispensable… so much so that I find myself lost when I use other people’s Macs.
Note: Some of the functionality I am describing requires the PowerPack, which currently costs £17, but you can try out the core features for free. The PowerPack has definitely been worth it for me, but bear that in mind.
What is Alfred?
There are plenty of other articles online to explain exactly what Alfred is, so I’ll be brief.
Alfred is the ultimate quick controller tool for your Mac. It’s like TextExpander, OSX Spotlight, Clipboard manager, and multi-search toolbar all rolled into one… but even better than that.
You start by assigning a hotkey to bring up the Alfred search box. It looks something like this:
I experimented with a bunch of different key combinations until I settled on ⌘+K. This might seem like a weird choice, but it felt like the best option given the way my hands naturally sit on the keyboard.
This unassuming search box has the power to become the command centre for your whole Mac.
Web Searches
How many times do you search Google, Facebook, IMDB, Wikipedia, or anywhere else a day?
To borrow Bryan’s advice: Whenever you search a website, consider adding it as a custom search in Alfred.
This is what the screen looks like:
I have a whole pile of custom searches, but most of them are for work, so I’ve only shown those that will be common for most folk.
Setting these up is pretty straightforward, so I won’t go into details – instructions can be found on the Alfred site itself. What’s important is how it works. Say I want to search IMDB for a particular movie. I would call up the Alfred box with my hotkey, and then type IMDB, followed by the movie title. Like so:
Hit enter and I get taken straight to the search results, rather than having to go to imdb.com first. The same sort of setup can be used for almost any site that has search.
Snippets
One of the features I use most often is the ‘Snippets’ feature. This has two main functions: a clipboard manager, and a storage for commonly used pieces of text that you don’t want to have to type out over and over again. You can access this through the main Alfred box, but of course you can assign a specific hotkey if you use it frequently. For me, that’s ⌘+O.
If you are familiar with tools like TextExpander, you’ll find the concept familiar: you input all of your predefined texts into Alfred, and then you can recall them at will through the use of a short phrase. I used to use TE and really liked it, so was hesitant to move over to Alfred’s way of doing things. It seemed counter-intuitive to press a key combination to bring up a window and then type in the keyword for my predef, rather than just typing in the predef directly.
Whilst it takes a bit of getting used to, where Alfred really wins is its fuzzy search matching for predefs. Whilst before I would have to remember the exact phrase, in Alfred it will show you all of the similar responses. This means you can have far more variations than you could remember, and find them easily through the use of a common word. When dealing with DMCA takedown notices, I use the word DMCA in the title. Start typing one, and the list narrows down to the relevant ones. Combine this with the clipboard history (which you can set the retention duration for, or disable altogether), and you have everything you need for working in support at your fingertips.
What’s even cooler is that Alfred will remember the selections you make most frequently, and float them to the top of the list, which is a major time saver. This is something that applies for all of the app’s actions, and is difficult to explain just how helpful it is without trying it for yourself.
Workflows
Workflows are one of the more sophisticated parts of Alfred. Here, you can create complicated recipes that do all sorts of things (or use ones already created by other people).
Here are some examples of the sort of Workflows I have set up:
Launch Alfred Preferences – I am constantly modifying or updating the snippets I use in Alfred. As a result, I’ve set up a hotkey (⌘+;) to bring up the preferences panel. You can download this here.
Connect to VPN – I have a number of VPN services that I use to connect to different countries for testing and anonymity purposes. Rather than have to manually connect up to these through the Mac task bar, I have it set up so I can hit one key combination to connect to London, one to connect to the USA, one to Romania, and so on.
Shorten URL with bit.ly – By typing in ‘bit into the Alfred box, I can paste a URL and have it automatically shortened using the bit.ly service. What’s even cooler is that this works with your custom shorteners. In my case, it shortens using http://allmy.fr – which I own.
Control PopClip – PopClip is an awesome wee tool for the Mac that another colleague and friend Mark introduced me to. It pops up a whole host of configurable actions you can take on text when you select it. I wasn’t a big fan at first, as it was popping up at inappropriate times, but it did have a lot of potential to be really useful. I created a workflow to toggle PopClip on or off using a keyword, or to bring up the menu with a hotkey when you want it. You can download that here.
Check if a site is down – To check if a website is down globally, or if it’s just me experiencing problems, I type ‘down’, followed by the URL. Alfred checks with http://downforeveryone.com/, and displays the result.
Add a task or appointment to Things or Fantastical – Quickly add a new task or appointment to the Things task manager, or the Fantastical calendar app, rather than fire up the apps themselves.
Open apps with a hotkey or short phrase – e.g. typing ‘sn’ into the Alfred box to open Simplenote. (More detail on the hotkey part in a section below)
Search for and play songs from Spotify – Self explanatory. (#)
Randomise your MAC address – for when you need a new MAC address to bypass time restrictions on the WiFi in hotels/airports/cafes.
IP Address Check – Quickly check your internal and public facing IP addresses. I use this to confirm if I’m properly connected to a VPN or proxy.
Show Workflow Commands – Remembering these workflows is hard. This workflow creates an on-screen list of all the commands with details of what they do. Very handy!
There is a whole pile of different examples over on Packal.org, so that’s a good place to start if you are looking for inspiration.
1Password Integration
If you aren’t using a password manager yet, stop reading and go install one. Seriously. You remember a master password, and these applications both generate strong passwords as well as storing and filling them in on websites automatically.
I used to swear by LastPass, and was perfectly happy with it thank you very much. Then I discovered that Alfred integrates with 1Password.
As well as being able to trigger the 1Password application with a hotkey or phrase, I can search for stored logins from the Alfred box, hit Enter, and get taken straight to the website and automatically logged in.
This means you need to spend a bit of time tidying up your stored URLs to ensure that they are correctly set to the login page rather than the signup page, but it’s worth it. I’ve now completely switched over to 1Password as a result.
Hotkey Trickery
One of the more complicated tricks (in terms of setup) I’ve found with Alfred relates to the use of Hotkeys.
Hotkeys are awesome things. They let you fire up apps, or specific workflows without having to search for anything in the Alfred box. The problem is, a lot of the key combinations that are available are already used up by system commands in OSX.
A guy called Daniel Setzermann has come up with a novel solution to this. It essentially involves installing a couple of tools to re-map your Caps Lock key to the unusual key combination CMD + ALT + CTRL + SHIFT – aka the ‘Hyper Key’. This kills the use of your Caps Lock key, but really… when do you ever actually use that anyway? Never. That’s when. At least, you shouldn’t be. If you need to change text to all caps, you can always get a workflow to do that for you.
This takes a wee bit of time to set up, and even I was hesitant to go through the steps, but stick with it; it’s well worth the initial effort.
The beauty of this is that you can now set up really great hotkeys like CAPS + S to launch Spotify, or CAPS + C to launch Chrome, etc. Here’s an idea of what my workflow for this currently looks like, though I’m still adjusting it to find what combos stick best in my memory:
Daniel explains how to set this up really well on his site over here. (Scroll down a wee bit till you find the relevant bit)
But… this sounds awesome. Why has it ruined your life?
It is awesome. At first, I was reluctant. Changing habits and your engrained workflows is difficult, and I didn’t really get how Alfred would be all that useful at all, even despite the explanations of some really smart people.
Having stuck at it though, I don’t think I could live without Alfred (ok, maybe a slight exaggeration). Alfred is like the gateway drug to productivity.
One of the results of using Alfred more is that I’ve finally reduced the size of my dock, and hidden it completely (until I mouseover). I no longer need to launch things from the dock, and I can quickly see what’s open by Command Tabbing, so I’ve opened up a whole extra bit of screen real estate that I was previously chained to.
Whenever I use somebody else’s Mac, it’s a nightmare. It feels unbelievably clunky and old. I’ve switched from a personal approach based heavily on clicking and moving the mouse about to one that is primarily hotkey based. I haven’t even really scratched the surface of what’s possible in this post… and I’m still discovering new things every day. Alfred lets me launch things quickly and smoothly, to concentrate on what I’m actually meant to be doing. No more trying to remember where that particular network admin page is located… Alfred knows.
Alfred knows.
Advertisements
|
Andrew Lane is a regular Uber customer with some fond memories of the service. Last year on President's Day he was the lucky rider selected for an "Ubercade" upgrade. "They sent over a free limo with secret service agents and everything. I got my girlfriend and we cruised by her ex-boyfriend's place. It was awesome."
"We didn't activate new drivers to make earnings even higher this weekend."
But this Valentines day, while traveling through San Diego in an Uber car, Lane heard something that disturbed him. "The driver had a Ford Sync system, and it read his text messages out loud." The message, which came wedged between numerous texts about a promotion for free roses, said, "UberX is very close to SURGE. It's Valentine's Day! People will be out all night and we didn't activate new drivers to make earnings even higher this weekend."
Uber’s surge pricing has been a controversial feature of the company’s business for some time. It uses an algorithm to raise and lower the price based on demand. At extremely busy times, especially holidays, rates can be as many as seven times the normal price. The company's CEO, Travis Kalanick, has been front and center defending this model.
"Surge pricing only kicks in in order to maximize the number of trips that happen and therefore reduce the number of people that are stranded," he told Wired in an interview. Kalanick has always maintained that Uber is a neutral party, a technology platform that helps to most efficiently connect drivers and riders. "We are not setting the price. The market is setting the price. We have algorithms to determine what that market is."
"We are not setting the price. The market is setting the price."
When Lane heard the Uber text message, he understood it to mean that the company was keeping current drivers off the road, limiting the supply to raise rates. To Lane it seemed Uber was favoring drivers over riders. "It made me angry, you know," says Lane. "Basically they are trying to rig the system to jack up fares on customers like me."
A law professor briefed on the text message says it may be suspect, given the company’s public framing of surge pricing. "This certainly sounds deceptive," says Arnold Rosenberg, assistant dean at the California Western School of Law in San Diego. "Something like this violates state laws around unfair business practices as well as Section 5 of the FTC act."
Uber says the whole thing is a misunderstanding Uber confirmed the text message, but says the whole thing is a misunderstanding. The company did not artificially restrict the number of drivers who were able to come on to the system on Valentine's Day — a particularly busy day for Uber rides — says spokesman Andrew Noyes. He explained the text simply noted that Uber did not onboard as many San Diego drivers as they could have that week because in the two weeks prior, a very large number of new drivers were added to the system. Earnings had been low, and the company wanted to reward new drivers with a strong holiday paycheck.
In other words, this wasn’t Uber specifically tweaking the number of drivers at a given time to tip things over into a surge. It was a big-picture strategy to make their new drivers happy. Noyes points out that during the week of the 10th, when this trip took place, only 5.6 percent of the trips on the Uber network were affected by surge pricing.
"That is a slap in the face to customers."
Regardless of when and why the additional drivers were withheld, the larger tension still stands: Uber insists that it's a marketplace, a neutral technology platform that works solely to connect drivers and riders with maximal efficiency. But it is also a business, and so may sometimes tilt the scales to keep drivers, its employees and contractors, happy.
The company’s explanation didn’t sit well with Lane. "Honestly it feels worse. Uber specifically withheld supply on a busy holiday weekend even while it predicted that doing so would create significantly higher prices," he said. "Best-case scenario it’s fleecing customers to enrich drivers, worst-case scenario it’s fleecing customers to enrich the broker (Uber). That is a slap in the face to customers."
|
Norwegian legends Darkthrone have completed work on their latest album ‘The Underground Resistance’, which is set for release on Peaceville Records on February 25th.
‘The Underground Resistance’ is Darkthrone’s latest venture through the metal cosmos, & first new album since the 2010 opus ‘Circle the Wagons’. A continuation of the free-spirited metallic lands the duo of Fenriz & Nocturno Culto have been roaming for a long time, ‘The Underground Resistance’ contains Darkthrone’s trademark masterful riffing in a broad range of styles, effortlessly bounding through the annals of classic metal, taking in thrash, speed & black metal, & not forgetting a dose of Punk. All in all a ferocious & dynamic set of tracks drenched in Fenriz’s & Nocturno’s rich & diverse tastes in all things metal, primarily those rooted firmly in the spirit of the 80’s. 6 tracks long, & every one an epic in itself, this is undoubtedly Darkthrone’s strongest outing of late.
‘The Underground Resistance’ was written & recorded spring 2010 to summer 2012 at Necrohell 2 studios by the band themselves. The album was mastered by Jack Control at Enormous Door, Texas USA. Cover artwork also comes courtesy of the iconic & celebrated artist Jim Fitzpatrick.
“3 songs each, Ted’s are flown from the universe of metal with his strongest voice ever so far. Songs of mine are torn from the wombs of the riders of rohan of metal; safely cradled in 1985 style” – Fenriz, December 2012
Darkthrone began life in the late 80’s as a thrash/death metal act & progressed through technical death/doom metal experimentation to become legends of the black metal world & one of the original leading bands of the Norwegian scene, as well as inspiring a whole generation of metal bands.
http://www.darkthrone.no
|
Pat DiGiovanni, president and CEO of Centro San Antonio, says that USAA’s move to bring 150 jobs is evidence that the urban core is becoming more attractive to companies of all sizes.
“We believe this is an indication by USAA that its future workforce wants to be in a more urban, walkable environment, close to residential options, shorter commutes and other amenities that are appealing to that workforce,” DiGiovanni said in a statement. “With a strong focus on arts, education and culture, particularly seen in projects like the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, the University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine and Hemisfair, downtown is becoming more attractive to large and small businesses and this will inevitably spur additional economic growth.”
The insurance and financial services company announced Friday that it will be moving roughly 150 jobs to One Riverwalk Place, an 18-story office building along the River Walk, in late September.
While 150 new employees to downtown might seem infinitesimal, District 1 Councilman Diego Bernal said USAA’s stature as one of the top privately-held companies in town makes the move a big deal.
“It’s fantastic to have one of our finest corporations enhance their presence in downtown,” Bernal said. “Changing downtown doesn’t happen over night. It happens piece by piece. And this is an important piece.”
USAA officials declined to say whether the company would eventually fill the entire 18-story building.
“It’s unclear right now,” said Shon Manasco, USAA’s chief administrative officer. “Many of those tenants have long-term lease. As we continue to grow in San Antonio, we are going to continue to look at all areas of the city … This is our home. This has always been our home.”
Related
USAA moving 150 jobs downtown
Express-News File Photo
Have any downtown news, event info, hearsay, tips, celebrations, complaints, boastings, updates, breaking news, memories, old photos, etc.? Want to write a guest blog? E-mail me.
Follow the Downtown Blog on Twitter: twitter.com/mySA_downtown. And on Facebook
|
Image caption Residents could serve in a second chamber for one day a month, David Melding suggests
Welsh citizens should be called-up for compulsory democratic service in the same way as "jury duty", an AM has said.
Conservative David Melding said a second chamber of the assembly should be created for residents to influence decisions and laws.
Mr Melding said introducing a "citizens service" in Wales would help narrow the gap between politicians and the public.
He said it would help keep politicians and officials "rooted".
Turnout for assembly elections is traditionally low, with just 45.3% voting last May while turnout in Wales for the EU referendum was 71.7%.
The AM for South Wales Central said the growing distance between politicians and the public, and the lack of engagement was "very damaging".
There are already hopes that a new youth parliament for Wales will start in 2018, to engage young people in politics, after the former Youth Assembly for Wales - known as Funky Dragon - closed in 2014.
Speaking on BBC Wales' Sunday Supplement programme Mr Melding said a "citizens' service" should be introduced, in a similar way to jury duty, with residents randomly selected to sit on panels, including local health boards to look at how hospitals and GP services are run, and local town and county councils to have their say on new leisure facilities and bin collection changes.
His idea could see the creation of a second chamber in the National Assembly for Wales, in Cardiff Bay, made up of 60 unelected citizens, who would look at decisions made in the Senedd.
Image caption David Melding said citizens' participation would help address the "growing distance" between politicians and the public
It would mean residents could get a letter in the post asking them to serve, which could be for one day a month for a year or more, he said.
Speaking ahead of the publication of an essay in the Western Mail, Mr Melding said: "The actual second chamber would not consist of 60 set people, it would be 600 people, or 6,000 over several years."
He added: "It would be a letter saying you have been selected to engage in some form of participation, the citizen would have a choice because obviously not everybody would want to come down to Cardiff to sit in Tŷ Hywel and have a debate about something that is then fed into the Senedd.
"You'd have options, one might be to do some service in your local town council for instance, or to sit on a local citizens' jury looking at whether a leisure centre should be built or not."
Mr Melding also spoke of his support for universal basic income - where everyone would receive the same sum of money regardless of whether they work or not. He clarified that the views were not Conservative Party policy, but a personal view.
|
In this “new era” of socialism with Chinese characteristics, China’s leader Xi Jinping is still focused on that age-old communist goal of carrying out revolution, at least in the realm of toilets.
Recently, Xi authored a front-page article in the People’s Daily, urging officials to press forward with efforts to build better public bathrooms in the Chinese countryside and at tourist sites around China in an effort to build a more civilized, hygienic, less smelly society.
China’s so-called “toilet revolution” was first launched back in 2015, charged with tidying up the infamously noxious facilities at Chinese tourist attractions which so often have caused foreign visitors to decide that they really didn’t have to go after all. Already, some 68,000 toilets have been either installed or upgraded at scenic spots around the country.
Some public restrooms even now include free toilet paper, though that has caused other problems and solutions to arise.
Big Brother is now rationing toilet paper. Chinese public toilets using facial recognition technology to dispense toilet paper and thwart toilet paper horders. A fine illustration of the trade-off between privacy and security.https://t.co/XpCl3jDD8N pic.twitter.com/Q7BMj88KoQ — Chris Buckley 储百亮 (@ChuBailiang) November 24, 2017
However, the focus of this revolution has also shifted toward improving public toilets in China’s crowded cities and particularly in its rural areas — where communal restrooms are often nothing more than open pits that must be manually emptied out to avoid the spread of disease. On visits to the countryside, Xi has made a habit of asking locals about their loos, believing that providing them with better toilets is one of the best ways to improve their quality of life.
In this effort, last December, China’s National Tourism Administration announced that it was committing $290 billion over the next four years to upgrade 100,000 public toilets in the country’s burnt-out rust belt where once booming factories and coal mines have been shuttered.
Meanwhile, the central mega-city of Chongqing has been at the forefront of this “toilet revolution” with luxurious public washrooms that look like giant cameras, or even Park Güell.
More recently, China has rebranded the United Nations’ “World Toilet Day” (Nov. 19th) as “World Toilet Day and China Toilet Revolution Awareness Day.” On that special day last week, a new platform was introduced on WeChat which allows users to locate the nearest public toilet to them.
The platform already includes 330,000 toilets across 2,288 counties. It’s expected to be released as a mobile app soon, and even eventually include an English version.
Meanwhile, we look forward to the blessed day when we can confidently stride into a Shanghai subway bathroom without first putting on a hazmat suit.
|
The death toll is mounting in a suburb north of Wellington: 650 rats, 23 weasels, assorted hedgehogs and mice, and a stoat.
The killers responsible are Pest Free Plimmerton, a community of trappers confronting New Zealand's declining biodiversity one backyard at a time.
The government spends between $60 million and $80m a year on pest control and last year launched its 'Predator Free by 2050' strategy, with an initial $28m investment to get it started.
But with 800 native species in New Zealand classified as threatened and faced with extinction, community groups like Pest Free Plimmerton still play an important role - and sometimes do so in lieu of government-funded work.
Heather Evans, one of Pest Free Plimmerton's founders, says starting a grassroots movement was the only way to get anything done about the silence of her local native bush.
Communities cannot wait for more funding or proper coordination to start tackling the problem, she says.
"We have to start now because in 10 years' time it's going to be even worse and in 20 years' time who knows, it might be too late by then."
The group received seed funding from the Department of Conservation and has grown from 80 to 185 trappers in a year.
But co-founder Linda Kerkmeester says the work has required a huge time investment and it shouldn't be falling to volunteers to organise conservation operations.
"We have [other] jobs to do.
"We do it because we're motivated, we do it because we love it, [but] it shouldn't be volunteers instead of funding - it should be as well as," she says.
Photo: RNZ / Kate Gudsell
The government says biodiversity is an important feature of its approach to investment in science.
The National Science Challenges were announced in 2013, and $133.5m of funding was allocated for their first four years.
Biological heritage national science challenge director Andrea Byrom says more people are undertaking pest control in their communities.
But community partnerships with government are a "double-edged sword", Dr Byrom says.
Photo: Supplied / Landcare Research
One one hand, partnerships are a fantastic way to get work happening on private land, not just on the conservation estate, she says.
However, she worries the resources and skills are not being put in to help these communities really deliver on the country's big conservation goals.
"They're very fragmented and not coordinated."
There's a worrying lack of policy focus on ecosystems as a whole - how a community of species interact with each other and go about their daily business of gathering - as oppose to policies targeting specific species, Dr Byrom says.
"[There are] fragments of natural ecosystems in New Zealand that are not being very well preserved."
And when it comes to biodiversity, the government is sending "mixed messages".
The Predator Free 2050 policy was "a deep recognition that the environment matters to New Zealand and that it's part of the economy and it's part of our sense of identity and that we are losing threatened and endangered species", she says.
But there hasn't been a lot of new money to tackle the problem.
"The threatened species strategy that was tabled just recently actually had no new money attached to it and that's a real shame, because I think that is an opportunity for extra investment in that area."
Dr Byrom says there's plenty of scientific knowledge about what's happening to New Zealand's biodiversity.
"There are some really good news stories ... but on the other hand there are a whole heap of other species that are either declining regionally or nationally still."
Diminishing diversity
Photo: Janice McKenna
More than 3000 native species are classified as 'threatened' or 'at risk'
Eighty-one percent of indigenous bird species, 72 percent of freshwater fish, 88 percent of reptile, 100 percent of frog and 27 percent of marine mammal species face extinction
The likelihood of extinction has increased for 7 percent of threatened species since 2005
Indigenous forests have reduced to about a third of their pre-human extent and wetlands have declined by about 90 percent
RNZ's election series Is this the Brighter Future? examines the government's record since it was elected in 2008. Read more here.
|
Feel the Bern: Bernie Sanders to visit Ireland BelfastTelegraph.co.uk Bernie Sanders is coming to Dublin for the first time next month, and will be in conversation with David McWilliams at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republic-of-ireland/feel-the-bern-bernie-sanders-to-visit-ireland-35653069.html https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/incoming/article34525966.ece/cfced/AUTOCROP/h342/Bernie-Sanders-%20Michigan-006.jpg
Email
Bernie Sanders is coming to Dublin for the first time next month, and will be in conversation with David McWilliams at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre.
In 'An Evening with Bernie Sanders', the longest-serving Independent in US congressional history, will explain his alternative vision for America as laid out in his best-selling book 'Our Revolution'.
His visit, on Sunday, June 4, is part of the Dalkey Book Festival 2017 and tickets for the event go on sale on Friday at 9am.
"It is an extraordinary privilege for the Dalkey Book Festival to host Bernie Sanders, we are truly delighted to bring him to Ireland for the first time," festival director Sian Smyth said.
"He is an iconic political figure of our time, a stunning orator and with such turmoil in the US and globally we are very much looking forward to hearing his thoughts and insights."
The festival's theme this year is 'empathy through storytelling' and top Irish and international names will speak and perform across four days from June 15 to 18.
Other highlights of the festival include Man Booker Prize winning author Marlon James, two-time Costa Award Winner Sebastian Barry, and Hyenoseo Lee who escaped from North Korea aged 17.
Colm Tóibín will speak on his latest novel, while Billy Bragg will talk about the Political Power of Music.
Irish Independent
|
Posted 7 years ago on Nov. 17, 2011, 12:35 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
November 17 Day of Action Underway
Marking 2-Months Since Birth of the 99% Movement
Thousands marched on Wall Street this morning, blockading all entry points to the New York Stock Exchange. 'People's mics' have been breaking out at barricades, with participants sharing stories of struggling in an unfair economy.
"I paid taxes and took care of my responsibility, and I'm struggling," said participant, Leah Lackner, 27, who had taken the day off work as a mental health counselor to join the protest. Her sign read: "I played by the rules."
57-year-old bond trader Gene Williams joked that he was “one of the bad guys” and said supportively, “The fact of the matter is, there is a schism between the rich and the poor and it's getting wider."
Participant and small business owner Jonathan Smucker confronted a Wall Street financial firm executive who held a sign that said 'get a job': "Ten percent of Americans are looking for work, most Americans are struggling, and you stand smugly in your suit and say to 'get a job'. You're insulting just about everyone in your country," Smucker said.
At least 200 people have been arrested so far for peaceful assembly and nonviolent civil disobedience, including retired Philadelphia Police Captain Ray Lewis. "All the cops are just workers for the one percent, and they don't even realize they're being exploited," Mr. Lewis said. "As soon as I'm let out of jail, I'll be right back here and they'll have to arrest me again."
Today marks two months since the start of Occupy Wall Street at Liberty Square. This movement has taken inspiration from global movements for social justice and democracy, including the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia. Occupy Wall Street, labor and community groups, and members of the 99% are celebrating the two-month anniversary of the movement here with a massive day of action.
"Our political system should serve all of us — not just the very rich and powerful. Right now Wall Street owns Washington," said participant Beka Economopoulos. "We are the 99% and we are here to reclaim our democracy."
In the wake of Bloomberg’s predawn raid of Occupy Wall Street on Tuesday morning, thousands of people throughout the five boroughs and the greater region are converging today to take peaceful action. Thousands are also taking action in at least 30 cities across the country.
**Schedule for New York Nov. 17 Actions:**
7:00am — underway — Shut Down Wall Street
3:00pm — Occupy the Subway
5:00pm — Take the Square, Festival of Lights on Brooklyn Bridge
**Resist austerity. Rebuild the economy. Reclaim our democracy.**
Participants gathered at Liberty Square at 7:00am, before the ring of the Trading Floor Bell, to confront Wall Street with the stories of people on the frontlines of economic injustice. All entry points to New York Stock Exchange were blockaded.We will gather at 3:00pm at 16 central subway hubs and take our own stories to the trains, using the "People's Mic". Click here for details. At 5:00pm thousands will gather at Foley Square in solidarity with laborers demanding jobs to rebuild this country's infrastructure and economy. They will encircle City Hall and march across the Brooklyn Bridge, carrying thousands of handheld lights, as a festival of lights to celebrate two months of a new movement to reclaim our democracy.
Click here for more description and details.
|
11 ISIL suspects detained in Turkish capital
ANKARA
A total of 11 suspects were detained yesterday in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, for recruiting militants for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and having connections with the group, the state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.Ankara counter-terrorism police conducted an operation early Jan. 25 targeting a group of suspects called “Tatlıbal” who had long been under surveillance. Ten suspects were detained in the operation, which was also supported by a special operations team. Unregistered riffles, guns and organizational documents were also seized during the operation.The suspects have been taken to Ankara Security General Directorate after a health check.The move came two days after 23 suspected ISIL militants, along with 21 children, were detained while attempting to enter Turkey from Syria in southeastern Turkey.The Turkish army said the 23 suspects, whose nationalities were not disclosed, were captured on Jan. 23 as they tried to enter Elbeyli, a district in the southeastern province of Kilis.“Twenty-three people suspected of being Daesh terror group members, together with 21 children, were caught,” said the army in a written statement, without giving any other details. Daesh is the Arabic acronym for ISIL and commonly used by Turkish officials to refer to ISIL.Two other suspected ISIL militants were also apprehended the next day, on Jan. 24, in the southeastern province of Kilis. Although their identities were not disclosed, the suspects were foreign nationals and were accompanied by two children.“A total of four persons, two suspected ISIL militants and two children, were apprehended by our security forces in the Çıldıroba village of Elbeyli district for attempting to cross the border into Syria,” the Kilis Governor’s Office said in an official statement.Turkey has been under pressure to step up security against suspected ISIL militants operating in the country, after initial criticism that it acted too slowly to recognize the threat.ISIL was blamed for a bomb that killed four people at a Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) rally in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on June 5, 2015. An ISIL militant also killed 33 civilians on July 20, 2015, at the Amara Cultural Center in the southeastern district of Suruç. Two ISIL militants then killed at least 100 people attending a peace rally in Ankara on Oct. 10, 2015, in the deadliest attack in the country’s history. On Jan. 12, the group was also blamed for a suicide attack that killed 10 German tourists near the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.
|
WOODSTOCK – A Woodstock police officer accused of drunken driving in an off-duty crash in February that knocked over a utility pole in Round Lake Beach has left the department.
Officer Michael E. Niedzwiecki resigned from his position March 22, Woodstock Police Chief John Lieb said.
Niedzwiecki was placed on administrative leave Feb. 23 after being on “allocated benefit time.” He was hired by the department in March 2012 and was assigned to the department’s patrol division.
“In light of his situation, he thought that it was best for himself and the city of Woodstock if he pursued other career interests,” Lieb said in an email. “The city wishes the best for him and his family as they begin the next chapter of their lives.”
Niedzwiecki, 29, of Lake Villa was charged Feb. 15 with driving under the influence of alcohol and cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.
Round Lake Beach police officers responded at 1:49 a.m. Feb. 11 for a report of a crash at North Hainesville and East Clarendon roads.
Officers arrived at the scene and saw a truck off the road with heavy damage and covered in downed power lines.
Niedzwiecki told police officers he was driving north on Hainesville Road approaching Rollins Road with his wife and he “forgot” that Hainesville Road curved sharply to the left. He drove off the road and crashed into a telephone pole and a highway marker sign, according to a police report.
“I knew that curve was there, I just forgot about that curve,” Niedzwiecki told the officers, according to the report.
Police said Niedzwiecki was slurring his words, and officers noted they could smell a “strong odor of an alcoholic beverage,” according to the report. His eyes also were glassy and bloodshot, and he identified himself as a police officer by displaying his badge. Niedzwiecki and his wife both declined medical attention at the scene.
Niedzwiecki refused field sobriety tests, and he was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. He also refused to submit to a breath sample while at the police station, according to the report.
Preliminary investigations indicated that Niedzwiecki was driving faster than the posted 30 mph speed limit and at a speed more than necessary to maintain control of the vehicle on the curve, according to the report.
He will next appear April 20 in Lake County Court.
DOCUMENTS: Round Lake Beach Police arrest report for Michael E. Niedzwiecki.
|
Witness Lee was born in China in 1905. He moved to the United States in 1962. Lee claimed to be an apostle who was leading and fulfilling “The Lord’s Recovery” of the church prophesied in books of the Old Testament like Nehemiah. He established the “Local Churches” by teaching that there should only be one church per city and to call a church anything other than “The Church in [Anaheim]” is fornication with the whore of Babylon.
The Christian Research Institute condemned Lee’s teachings in the late 70s. In 1977 E. Calvin Beisner co-authored an article for CRI The Teachings of Witness Lee and the Local Church. You can hear a lecture by Walter Martin (the original Bible Answer Man who founded CRI in 1960) delivered sometime in the 70s here http://server.firefighters.org/18000/18110.mp3 where he clearly lays out the heresies of Witness Lee and the Local Churches. There was also an open letter published online several years ago An Open Letter To the Leadership of Living Stream Ministry and the “Local Churches” signed by numerous apologists and Christian theologians.
In late 2009, the Christian Research Institute (which is now headed by Hank Hanegraff, who is plagued with controversy and criticism and whose proper succession to Martin at CRI is disputed) published a special issue of the Christian Research Journal simply titled “We Were Wrong.” The whole issue is an apology to the Local Churches and an explanation of how CRI was wrong and how the LC are actually “soundly orthodox.” Norm Geisler and Ron Rhodes wrote a response to the CRI piece http://www.open-letter.org/pdf/Geisler_Rhodes_Response_to_CRI.pdf to which Hank Hanegraaff subsequently wrote a response in the latest issue of CRJ.
My Encounter
Members of the Local Churches, also known as Living Stream Ministries, are very active on college campuses. A friend of mine ran into them several times at Cal State Fullerton. She went to one of their meetings and eventually had a few of the members meet with her, myself, my wife, and another friend of ours several times over the last few months to hear them explain their beliefs. The goal was to understand what they believe and then determine if they were a Christian group or not.
Much of what you may find online for and against the group can perhaps be a bit confusing and maybe even a little abstract. My friend considered the possibility that it may all be the result of a language barrier between us and Lee’s original writings. However, these meetings, along with further study of their writings, have made it very, very clear what these people believe – and it is not Christian at all. I’m writing this to give you an overview of what exactly the group teaches and how it is heretical. My goal is to teach you what the LSM Statement of Faith should teach you, if they were honest. I have not come across anything that summarizes the issue in this way, so I hope this may be of help rather than just spilling more ink on what has already been said.
Contrast
The title of my blog is contrast. If you look in the about page, you’ll find the following quote:
“When one author constantly criticizes other authors, the reader may be repelled by the negativism. Let it be repeated that contrasting views bring both sides into sharper focus.”
Gordon Clark : What is Saving Faith?
When a group like LSM uses biblical language and biblical imagery, it can be difficult to discern the error because when you read what they write, you think they mean one thing, but they actually mean something else completely. Thus things became clear to me when I was able see the negations made by LSM. This is the error of Hank Hanegraaff and those who are defending Lee and LSM. Rather than looking at the contrast, they have devoted all their effort to finding similarities. But what Lee and LSM believe becomes clear when they say what they do not believe. Thus this post will teach by way of contrast.
The Triune God
Much of the debate about Witness Lee’s teaching is focused on his view of the Trinity, so I won’t spend a lot of time discussing it. I encourage you to read Besiner’s article and Geisler’s article above.
The statement of faith on the Living Stream Ministries website says “God is eternally one and also eternally the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, the three being distinct but not separate.” Sounds fine, but note what Beisner says in this 2003 article:
Look closely. Notice that it doesn’t say what the three are as “distinct”? What are the Father, the Son, and the Spirit? Cabbages? Angels? Compact discs? Extensive reading in Witness Lee’s writings discovers considerable hesitation to affirm what Christianity has affirmed through the ages: that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, though they are one God, are distinct Persons.
For example, Lee says:
The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are not three separate persons or three Gods; they are one God, one reality, one person… God is triune; that is, He is three-one. In some theological writings, the preposition in is added between three and one to make three-in-one. However, it is more accurate to say that God is three-one. Witness Lee, The Triune God to Be Life to the Tripartite Man
(Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1970), p. 48
Lee clarified what he meant by triune. He meant three-one, not three-in-one. And, to make sure people did not misunderstand him, he said he was teaching something different than the “traditional” understanding of the Trinity:
“The traditional explanation of the Trinity is grossly inadequate and borders on tritheism. When the Spirit of God is joined with us, God is not left behind, nor does Christ remain on the throne. This is the impression Christianity gives. They think of the Father as one Person, sending the Son, another Person, to accomplish redemption, after which the Son sends the Spirit, yet another Person. The Spirit, in traditional thinking, comes into the believers, while the Father and Son are left on the throne. When believers pray, they are taught to bow before the Father and pray in the name of the Son. To split the Godhead into these separate Persons is not the revelation of the Bible, but the doctrine of the Nicene Creed” Witness Lee, Life Messages
(Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1979), p. 164
These quotes are both found in the Open Letter. The people I met with gave me a binder full of Lee’s writings that corresponded to the quotes in the Open Letter. Their intent was to show me the whole context of the quotes. I’m not certain what they thought that would prove however, since none of the quotes were taken out of context. The context only worsened what Lee was communicating.
When I spoke with the Local Church members, they continually insisted that the Triune God is distinct, but not separate. They would then explain that by “not separate” they mean “The Son is called the Father; so the Son must be the Father.” And “the Lord Jesus is the Spirit.” But when the London Baptist Confession says the Triune God is not separate, it means
“the Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son; all infinite, without beginning, therefore but one God, who is not to be divided in nature and being, but distinguished by several peculiar relative properties and personal relations.” LBC 2.3
Other examples include the French Confession of Faith (1559)
the three persons not confused, but distinct, and yet not separate, but of the same essence, equal in eternity and power.
Or
We believe and teach that God is one in essence or nature…Notwithstanding we believe and teach that the same immense, one and indivisible God is in person inseparably and without confusion distinguished as Father, Son and Holy Spirit
The Second Helvetic Confession, Ch 3
I shouldn’t even have to provide these examples as proof. Witness Lee already clarified himself that his view was different from the traditional view and that it was not Nicene. No orthodox statement of the Trinity ever says “not separate” means the Son is the Father and the Son is the Spirit. So again, the Local Church uses biblical and traditional language, but mean something entirely different by it.
But my purpose here is not to address each issue in depth, but rather to show how each issue works together to create a false gospel. I encourage you to read the Open Letter, as well as Beisner’s and Geisler’s articles to understand more.
The Processed God
The way LSM attempts to defend their view is to say ontologically the three members of the Trinity are distinct, but economically they are all one. However, LSM misunderstands what those terms mean and therefore misapply them. In his response to CRI, Norm Geisler notes:
The “operational [economic] Trinity” is, at best, only a way of speaking about the one and only essential Trinity’s activities, not His essential Being. But even here when one member of the Trinity acts in the world, He is still distinct from the other members, even if they are co-acting with Him. For example, when co-authors such as ourselves mingle our minds and act together by co-authoring the same thoughts and words in the same book, we are still in this action two different persons. And no such co-action justifies anyone calling Ron “Norm,” or calling Norm “Ron.” We are two really distinct persons with different names.
Using this artificial distinction, Lee and LSM teach what they call a “Processed God.”
The Bible reveals that God is immutable in His essence and that God has been processed in His economy. As the processed God, the Triune God has passed through crucial and interdependent steps in the divine economy in order to dispense Himself into His chosen and redeemed people…God’s process ultimately is related to becoming flesh through incarnation and becoming the life giving Spirit through resurrection.
Our Unchanging, Processed God
First in this process is the Triune God becoming flesh. Jesus Christ is not the Second Person of the Trinity. Instead,
“the Christ in whom we believe is the center of the Triune God.” Because of this, “the Triune God became mingled with man… He is not only the Triune God, but also a man… He is the Triune God mingled with man. Therefore, He is the Triune God-man.
Witness Lee, The All-Inclusive Spirit of Christ
(Los Angeles: The Stream Publishers, 1969), pp. 8-11 According to our thinking the Son became flesh and the Son was the One who was manifested in the flesh. The Bible, however, tells us that the Word became flesh and that the Word was God. John 1:1 does not say that the Word was the Son, but that the Word was God. Do you believe that only one-third of God became flesh, one-third remained on the throne, and one-third was as a dove soaring in the heavens? The Bible does not divide God, the entire God, into thirds. Paul also tells us in 1 Timothy 3:16 that God was manifested in the flesh. This again shows us that the entire Godhead, the Triune God, became flesh… We believe that Jesus was the complete God and the perfect man. He was the Father, the Son, and the Spirit-man. He lived on this earth as the Triune God for thirty years…
Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy
(Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1986), p. 230 We firmly resist the notion that the Son was incarnated as a man separably from the Father and the Spirit
A Confirmation of the Gospel: Concerning the Teaching of the Local Churches and Living Stream Ministry
Second in this process is Jesus, the Triune God-man becoming the Spirit.
…When Jesus was glorified in resurrection, a change took place economically, not essentially, in the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God, who is the eternal Spirit, became the life-giving Spirit, the Spirit of the glorified Jesus. …The Gospel of John is also the autobiography and history of the “journeying” Triune God, and the destination of the journeying Triune God is the human spirit of His chosen and redeemed people. The word journeying describes the Triune God in His economical move and work to accomplish His eternal plan (see God’s Eternal Plan section below). Our Unchanging, Processed God
In summary:
…This process can be summed up in three words: the Word, the flesh, and the breath. The Word is God, the flesh is man, and the breath is the Spirit. The Word became flesh, and the flesh became the breath to be breathed into man to make him a regenerated man of God with the breath of God. The Word became flesh, and the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit. These two great “becomings” were the major processes of the journeying Triune God in His move in man to accomplish His plan (again, see below). …The move of the processed God is centered on man. Whereas the Old Testament reveals God’s indirect move with man, the New Testament reveals God’s direct move in man. God’s move with man in the Old Testament was a typological preparation for His ultimate move in man in the reality of the New Testament. God’s move in man is to deify man, making man the same as He is in life, nature, and appearance but not in the Godhead for the glory of God, the expression of God. Our Unchanging, Processed God
Mankind
Perhaps your ears perked up in what you just read about the deification of man. Man, according to Lee and LSM, is a tri-partite being made up of the body, the soul, and the spirit. Far from being a sideline theological debate between dichotomy and trichotomy, this is central to their faith. It is illustrated and emphasized in the introductory literature they hand out on campuses.
The spirit is a unique element within man. It was described to me as a baseball glove waiting to hold God’s life in it.
The man created in God’s image was merely an empty vessel. He could not express and represent God because he did not possess God’s divine life.
A Defense of the Gospel – Response to an Open Letter
Man, the highest created life, needs to receive another life for his completion…
…The function of the human spirit is to contact God. Our spirit was made by God for the purpose that one day we would exercise it to contact Him and receive Him into our being.
Faith, Regeneration, and the New Creation
This brings us to another one of the key focuses of LSM. Lee says “Regeneration is the central part of God’s salvation.”
Regeneration
This is another point where it is crucial to understand what Lee and LSM mean by regeneration and not simply assume they mean the same thing as you. The London Baptist Confession describes regeneration as:
1. Those whom God hath predestinated unto life, he is pleased in his appointed, and accepted time, effectually to call, by his Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and by his almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace. 2. This effectual call is of God’s free and special grace alone, not from anything at all foreseen in man, nor from any power or agency in the creature, being wholly passive therein, being dead in sins and trespasses, until being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit; he is thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it, and that by no less power than that which raised up Christ from the dead. London Baptist Confession 1689, Chapter 10
As a consequence of the Fall, man is dead in his sin, has a heart of stone, and is in rebellion against God. So God removes the sinful heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh that is no longer in rebellion. That is regeneration.
But not according to Lee:
God’s purpose is that we may obtain His own uncreated life and be transformed by this life into His image to be like Him. Even if our human life had not been corrupted by the fall of man in Genesis 3, we would still need to be regenerated. In Genesis 1 and 2, Adam was without sin, yet he was void of God’s life. Thus, God placed him before the tree of life that he might receive the life of God and be regenerated. God’s purpose in creating man is not merely to obtain a sinless man, but even more to have a God-man, one who has God’s own life and nature. The Lord Jesus was very wise in using Nicodemus as the example of regeneration. If He had used the sinful woman in John 4 as the example, we might conclude that only sinful people need to be born again… the Lord revealed that regardless of how good we are, we still need regeneration. Regeneration is the primary need of man. Moral people, as well as immoral people, need to be regenerated. Some Christians hold the mistaken concept that people need regeneration simply because they are sinful and fallen. However, if Adam had never fallen into sin, he still would have needed regeneration because he was lacking the life of God. …Since we are human beings, we all have human life. The question is not whether our human life is good or bad. Regardless of the kind of human life we have, as long as we do not have the divine life, we need to be regenerated. To be regenerated simply means to receive the divine life in addition to our human life. God’s eternal purpose is for man to be a vessel to contain the divine life. We are earthen vessels to contain God as life (2 Cor. 4:7). This is the true meaning of regeneration. Faith, Regeneration, and the New Creation
Lee and LSM mean something utterly different than Christians do when they talk about regeneration. For them, it is the process by which we are deified. The entire Triune God enters into our spirit and we become a new creation. No longer human, we are now God-men.
Lee describes how this process works:
The divine life received through regeneration is the seed of our new being. Speaking of the one who has been begotten of God, 1 John 3:9 says, “His seed abides in him.” The seed here denotes God’s life, which we received of Him when we were begotten of Him. This life as the divine seed abides in every regenerated believer. This seed is actually the Triune God Himself. In regeneration the Triune God was sown into us as the seed of life. The believer has the divine seed in his spirit. It is a marvelous fact that this seed of God now abides in us… …A seed is a container of life. The word of God as the incorruptible seed contains God’s life… God is mysterious and abstract, and for this reason it is difficult for us to receive Him. But the abstract, mysterious God is embodied in the word, which has been preached to us. When we heard the word and received it, we received God, who is embodied in the word. The embodiment of God in the word is the very seed of life sown into our being for our regeneration. Faith, Regeneration, and the New Creation
So the word of God is like a pill – something that makes the abstract, mysterious God digestible for us. It contains God in a digestible form. This happens through preaching.
The proper preaching of the gospel is the preaching not of a doctrine but of Christ, the Son of God, the One who is the embodiment of the Father and who is realized as the Spirit… The Christ who has been preached to them will become in them the faith by which they believe. (ibid)
At this point Lee changes the common phrase “believe in Christ,” which means to believe what the Bible says about Him (that He is God and has ransomed sinners from the wrath of God) to instead say “believe into Christ.”
…believe into the Lord…believe into His name…believe into Him…To believe into the Lord means to receive Him (John 1:12). The Lord is receivable…This faith creates an organic union in which we and Christ are one. The expression out of faith in Christ actually denotes an organic union accomplished by believing into Christ. The term into Christ refers to this organic union. (ibid)
Adoption
At this point we have become God-men, just like Christ.
Christ’s resurrection was a birth both for Him as the firstborn Son of God and for us as the many sons of God…in His humanity He was born as the firstborn Son of God through His resurrection. (ibid)
Although the incarnate Christ was the Son of God by virtue of His divinity (Matt. 16:16), His humanity, that is, His human flesh, was not the Son of God—for, though sinless, it did not have divinity. To bring Christ’s human nature into the divine sonship, God begot Christ in His humanity by imparting the divine life into His humanity in His resurrection.
Piper’s The Pleasures of God (A review/critique) In the same way that God begot Christ in resurrection, God has regenerated us to be His many sons (1 Pet. 1:3; Heb. 2:10).
Sproul’s Saved from What? (A critique)
We are literally the reproduction, the actual offspring of the Triune God. We are sons of God by birth.
By regeneration we refer to the organic process by which God makes us His children not simply by adopting us through the declaration of His sovereign decree but more intrinsically by begetting us through the impartation of His eternal life (John 1:12-13; 3:5-6; 1 John 3:9). We believe that, through regeneration, God becomes our genuine Father (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6), and we become His sons genuinely, organically, and intrinsically, possessing His life and nature (1 John 5:11; 2 Pet. 1:4). Witness Lee understands deification as the full import of biblical sonship: Man cannot be God in His Godhead, but he can be God in His life and nature. We are what we are born of. Anything born of a dog is a dog. Likewise, if we were born of a monkey, we would surely be a monkey. God created man not according to a monkey’s kind or a dog’s kind, but according to His kind, in His image and according to His likeness. Furthermore, the Bible tells us that the believers in Christ are God’s children (John 1:12-13; 1 John 3:1-2). The children of a man are also men. Because we are children of God, we are God in nature and in life, but not in the Godhead, that is, not in God’s position or rank. (The Organic Union in God’s Relationship with Man, 27). When we say that we are one with God, we do not mean that we become the person of God. This is to make ourselves an object of worship and should be condemned as blasphemy. To be one with God is to be one with Him in His divine life and nature. Every life produces offspring after its own kind (Gen. 1:11, 21, 24). As children of our physical father we have our father’s life and nature, but we are not the same person as he is. A grandfather, a father, and a son all have the same life and nature, but they are different persons. In life and nature they are the same, but in person they are different. As the children of God (Rom. 8:16; 1 John 3:1) we have been “deified,” not in person but in life and in nature. We are one with God in His life and nature, but not in His person. (The Experience and Growth in Life, 209-210) In God’s new covenant (Jer. 31:33-34), we have been made God in His nature and in His life, but not in His Godhead. This is because we have been begotten of God (John 1:13). Dogs beget dogs; lions beget lions; and man begets man. Since your father is a man, and you are born of him, are you not a man? As believers in Christ, we have been born of God; we have been regenerated by God. God is our Father, and we are His sons. Since our Father is God, what are we, the sons? The sons must be the same as their Father in life and in nature. We have been born of God to be the children of God (1 John 3:1). Eventually, when Christ comes, He will make us fully the same as God in life and in nature (v. 2). However, none of us are or can be God in His Godhead as an object of worship. In a family, only the father has the fatherhood. The children of the father do not have his fatherhood. There is only one father with many children. The father is human, and the children also are human, but there is only one father. In the same way, God is our unique Father; only He has the divine fatherhood. But we as His children are the same as He is in life and in nature. (The Christian Life, 133-134) The goal of God’s salvation in the divine life is to build up the believers into the Body of Christ, the corporate and organic expression of Christ. We maintain that the Body of Christ is not simply some apt metaphor for the unity of the believers in the church but the spiritual and intrinsic reality of the church (Eph. 1:22-23)—a divine-human organism that encompasses Christ, the firstborn Son, as the Head and the many believers, the many sons of God, as the members of the Body (Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 12:12, 27). A Defense of the Gospel – Response to an Open Letter
Because we are sons of God by birth, we are not sons of God by adoption. No one adopts their natural born children.
When we were born of our parents, we obtained human life. When we were born of God, we obtained God’s divine life… When we have the life of God, we are the sons of God. The life of God gives us the right and authority to become the children of God (John 1:12)… Since regeneration means to be born of God, it automatically causes us to become the children of God (John 1:12-13). We are His children and He is our Father. The divine life we receive through regeneration is our authority to be His children.
Faith, Regeneration, and the New Creation
[Sproul] writes that “Jesus is God’s only natural Son. All others enter His family through adoption in Christ” (110). Such a statement directly contradicts the revelation of the holy Scriptures, which tell us in unmistakable terms that we as believers have actually been born of God and are consequently His actual progeny.
Sproul’s Saved from What? (A critique)
This came out in one of our meetings. The LSM members became very passionate as they told us how Christians have completely misunderstood what the Bible says about adoption. They explained at length the argument above, telling me I would not adopt my son when he was born because he was my son. When I asked them if they then denied the legal aspect of adoption they said “Oh, no, absolutely not. We completely affirm the legal aspect.” I was thoroughly confused and had no idea how they could “completely affirm” what they were spending our whole time arguing against: adoption.
After I got home I did some reading and found out that I was very misled by these people. They do not affirm legal adoption at all. They actually argue that “adoption” is a mistranslation of uiJoqesiva, claiming it means “sonship” instead. They have absolutely no legitimate reason to do so based on the Greek meaning of the word, but insist that the Greek meaning simply does not fit with their understanding of regeneration, so it must mean something else.
The language of regeneration in the Bible, being drawn from the natural realm of birth and growth, indicates that regeneration is a birth, not just a judicial procedure of adoption. To translate the term uiJoqesiva adoption (according to its non-biblical Greek use) rather than sonship (having the place and quality of a son) is misleading and inconsistent with the language of regeneration and the ability of God to impart His life into those whom He has created in His own image.
The Language of Regeneration
For a good refutation of these claims, see http://localchurchdiscussions.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=615
Hopefully you can begin to see how all of these things work together in a chain, a system. Because Lee and LSM so passionately dispute the Christian’s legal adoption into God’s family, we must see how they view a Christian’s forensic, legal justification.
Justification
First off, for Lee and LSM, justification is a stepping stone. God justifies us so that He can regenerate us. Remember, regeneration/deification is the focus. Sin introduced an annoying speed bump along the course of “God’s journeying.” The title of LSM’s critique of Sproul’s book “Faith Alone” is called “Justification Alone” because “God’s judicial redemption as the procedure is purposeless without God’s organic salvation.” They criticize Sproul for focusing just on justification and not on the most important part of the gospel – our deification (organic salvation). Lee states:
“Through justification we have come up to the standard of God’s righteousness and correspond with it, so that now He can impart His life to us” (Recovery Version, Rom. 5:18, note 2).
But moving on to the legal question – watch this video of R. C. Sproul explaining the gospel:
Lee and LSM strongly reject what you just heard.
It is not accurate to say, as Lutheran and Reformed writers usually do, that the righteousness of Christ is reckoned to our account. We do not have something called “the righteousness of Christ”; rather, as those who have entered into an organic union with the Lord by believing into Him, we have Christ Himself, the person, as our righteousness.
Faith, Regeneration, and the New Creation
Keep in mind what Lee said about “believing into Christ.” He said “The term into Christ refers to this organic union (deification).” Lee and LSM profess that we are justified by faith, but they redefine what faith is:
“This faith is not of ourselves but of Him who imparts Himself as the believing element into us that He may believe for us” (Recovery Version, Heb. 12:2, note 3). This means that for our justification by God, we believe in Jesus Christ through Him as our faith. Paul, therefore, speaks of “the faith of Jesus Christ” (Rom. 3:22)… …We would emphasize the fact that to believe in Christ is actually to believe into Him (John 3:15-16, 18, 36). When we believe in the Lord Jesus, we believe into Him. By believing into Him, we enter into Him to be one with Him, to partake of Him, and to participate in all that He has accomplished for us… Faith in Christ brings us into an organic union with Christ, and it is in this union that we are justified by God. If we would be justified by grace, by faith, and through the redemption which is in Christ, we must be in Christ, that is, we must be in Him as a realm, a sphere… To be justified by God, we not only must believe Him or believe in Him—we must be in Him as the One who was resurrected to be our Savior… justification is not only a matter of faith in Christ but also of being in Christ through believing into Him.
Justification
To clarify, they say that faith/believing is not an intellectual act of our mind/heart/soul with Christ as the object of our faith. No, instead, they say that Christ is our faith.
It is by means of our organic union with Christ that God can reckon Christ as our righteousness… We should not have a mere doctrinal understanding of justification by faith. According to the concept of some Christians, Christ is the just One, the righteous One, on the throne in the presence of God, and God reckons Christ to be our righteousness when we believe into Christ. This understanding of justification is not adequate. …it is not unreasonable to say that faith is Christ. This is like saying that holiness, love, righteousness, patience, and endurance are Christ. Because the unique faith is Christ Himself, we who believe into Him have a common faith… The faith with which we believe is not ours but God’s. When the pneumatic Christ was revealed in us through the preaching of the gospel, He became the believing element and ability within us.
Faith, Regeneration, and the New Creation
My intention here is to show you how theology is systematic. You cannot alter one doctrine without it having an effect elsewhere. LSM understands this and have sought to work out the implications of their heretical view of God into all the other Christian doctrines:
It is my intention here, against the background of the classic forms of the doctrine thus far reviewed, to present a view of justification that respects the outlook of this journal, an organic view of God and His work in humankind… there is undeniably some dissatisfaction with the models of justification that have gone before, and these compel further consideration and refinement. In what follows, the studied reader will not find a wealth of innovation, except perhaps in the definition of faith, but instead a reapplication of a number of notions previously presented. Luther will echo [though they misinterpret Luther], as will also Trent [Roman Catholicism], and Osiander will come alive again, hopefully with some needed correction. Who will not be heard, in their most austere and radical forms, are Melanchthon and Calvin, and this, I hope, will not disappoint too many… Protestant justification, in the strident forensic form that Melanchthon and Calvin pressed on their followers, is in many respects like the emperor’s new clothes, which, even a child can see, leaves much to be desired for covering and propriety.
Justification of Life
So they are clear that they are rejecting the Protestant (Christian) doctrine of justification and replacing it with a new doctrine of justification that implements their heretical view of God and mankind.
Recall the video above. R. C. Sproul makes it clear that the debate of the Reformation was imputation vs. infusion. The Reformers argued that we are justified by the alien rightouesness of Christ imputed to us. It is something outside of us that is credited to our account (imputed). Rome, on the other hand, rejecting this idea and said righteousness is infused into our hearts, making us actually righteous. LSM attempts to form a hybrid between these views, using their newly invented (and absurd) definition of faith: infusion imputed.
We must say here, above the objections of the Protestants, that God infuses something into us for our justification, that is, the faith that justifies us. But for this we must understand the preaching to be something more than the simple delivery of gospel truths… It is important to realize that the faith infused into us through the gospel is not something different from Christ Himself; it is not some emanation from God into us. Rather, the Christ who is preached to us is infused into us through the word of the gospel. Faith is not merely a mental comprehension of the things preached but the apprehended reality of what is preached; it is the actual token of the things we believe. Our believing in Him, initiated through the preaching and helped by His infusion within us, is indeed righteous because it is the first and only response within us that matches the real state of affairs with regard to the righteousness of God… for the first time in our lives there is a righteous and justifiable response within us… Contrary to the harsher forms of Reformation justification, this justification is real because it is indeed within the believer. Luther described Christ’s righteousness as something imputed to the believers for their justification, and this need not be rejected… the righteousness that He is, is imputed to us, not simply through some judicial transfer of merit but more profoundly on the basis of an organic union and the certainty of what that union will ultimately do within us… Because our justification, even in this initial, objective aspect, is not based on a righteousness that is external or alien to us, there is no need to speak of a forensic notion of justification, that is, the notion that God justifies us without any regard for what is within us… This objective justification is actual because there is righteousness within us, indeed the righteousness of the God-man in both His divine and human natures, and our union with Him allows us to possess His righteousness for our justification. In this sense, God justifies our organic union with Christ. Our initial justification does not require a forensic judgment on God’s part because it is based on an actual reality within us. Further, our justification is not hollow or a mere “accounting trick,” because while being based certainly and solely on the accomplishments of Christ for our redemption, it also looks forward to what Christ will do within us as we grow in His life, are transformed, and are ultimately glorified. Justification of Life
And in order to crystal clear:
Objective justification is actual because there is righteousness within us, indeed the righteousness of the God-man in both His divine and human natures, and our union with Him admits us into His righteousness for our justification. In this sense, God justifies our organic union with Christ. Objective justification is not forensic in the sense that it is based on a righteousness that is external or alien to us and is externally imputed to us by God without regard for any righteousness within us.
Justification of Life
With one single word, LSM has denied the gospel. They have given a very clear definition of the gospel, and then entirely negated it with the word “not”.
In summary, LSM describes how their doctrine of justification fits in with their belief that God’s ultimate purpose in all things is to express Himself through G0d-men.
In the final analysis, justification is the great act of God to make us like Himself in the matter of righteousness… It is not God’s intention to simply justify us on a juridical level, to get us “legal,” so to speak; His intention is to gain in us a degree of righteousness that expresses who He is, so that He may be glorified in His righteousness through us. …Why does God justify?… [A] profound desire that we become what He is in righteousness so that He may be expressed in all that He is. Justification, based on who He is and because of our living out of Him, proves to be the aspect of salvation as deification relative to His exquisite attribute of righteousness.
So God uses man, an empty vessel, to process Himself into God-men, in order to express His righteousness through us.
It is true that the Bible describes man as a vessel of God’s attributes – but not righteousness.
Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory (Romans 9:21-23).
We are not vessels of God’s righteousness, but of His mercy!
The Purpose of God
And so this brings us to the eternal purpose of God. Is God’s eternal purpose the glorification of Christ in the redemption of His people, all to the praise of God’s righteousness, mercy, and love? No:
Doubtless God rejoiced over becoming a man, for only this God-man could accomplish the redemption of God’s fallen creatures… Yet, more significantly, in view of God’s eternal purpose — formed long before the fall of man – God delighted in becoming a man to establish a prototypical God-man — a man who lives God for the expression of God in humanity. From the manger to the cross, Christ, the first God-man, unceasingly manifested God in His human living as the prototype for His believers, the many God-men, His mass reproduction (John 5:19; 6:57; 14:10). …Pleasures neglects the crucial place humanity occupies in God’s eternal purpose. Though correctly underscoring God’s pleasure in His Son as the reflection of His perfections, the book falls short of underlining God’s pleasure in humanity as the means of His manifestation… with regard to His eternal economy to enlarge His expression through creation, God longs to reproduce His Son in humanity as His enlarged corporate manifestation. …From the creation of humanity to the culmination of the New Jerusalem, the entire Bible abounds with intimations that God’s thought is focused and His heart is set upon humanity, for it is humanity that fulfills God’s heart’s desire for His corporate duplication and expression. Nathan Betz : Affirmation & Critique 2003.01, Review of John Piper’s “Pleasures of God”
a
The End
A thorough re-alignment of thought must take place in the Christian community concerning the definition and thus the experience of the salvation that God has prepared for us.
Sproul’s Saved from What? (A critique)
the “Triune God and His regenerated, sanctified, transformed, and glorified elect will be joined and mingled as one to constitute an organism as the enlargement and expression of God in eternity”
Piper’s The Pleasures of God (A review/critique)
Some of Lee and LSM’s favorite verses to quote to try to prove their heretical view of the Trinity (that the Son is Father) are John 10:30 “I and the Father are one” and John 14:10-11 “I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” Now, a valid objection to this false interpretation, and one that I raised, is that John 17:11 says that the Body of Christ is one in the same way that the Father and Son are one – so Jesus must be referring to something else – namely, unity of mind. But some an objection does not phase LSM, because they believe that just as the Son is the Father, so also the Body of Christ is the Father.
The Son prayed that that those who believed through the preaching would be one, but He refined this oneness by making it equivalent to being in Him and the Father. He desired not just that we would believe the precious word of the gospel but that we would be made one through it, and this oneness is not simply a oneness of belief nor a oneness among the believers themselves but is more deeply a oneness that results from the believers being in the Father and the Son. Characterized in this way, this oneness that enlarges is the oneness that already exists between the Father and the Son. The Son prays that in the same way that the Father and the Son incorporate one another (“even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You”), the believers would also be incorporated into them (“that they also may be in Us”). Thus, this oneness is the enlargement of the divine and eternal incorporation to now include the believers and may be rightly called the divine-human incorporation (“I in them, and You in Me”). …The Jesus of John, as we have seen, is not simply a man who happens to be God but God incarnate having a particular kind of human living that incorporates the entire Divine Trinity and who ultimately brings His believers into that same incorporate living.
The Johannine Jesus as Bridge and Model for the Incorporation of the Believers into the Divine Trinity (2)
And here, ladies and gentlemen, we reach the Grand Finale of Witness Lee’s false gospel: the Processed, Four-in-One God.
Ultimately, the church is a group of people who are in union with the Triune God and are mingled with the Triune God. The Triune God and the church are four-in-one. Because the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all one with the Body of Christ, we may say that the Triune God is now the “four-in-one God.” These four are the Father, the Son, the Spirit, and the Body.
Witness Lee, A Deeper Study of the Divine Dispensing p.203-204
Because the believers are incorporated into Him, He as the heavenly ladder serves as the personal bridge to the Triune God, incorporating in Himself the Divine Trinity and the believers. This is the very center of the universe, for in Him God and man are joined together, and the ministrations of God are focused on Him as this heavenly bridge. Within Himself He incorporates the unique enterprise of God’s economy, that is, the Triune God operating through Him by the Spirit in the believers for the manifestation and expression of God the Father on the earth. …In this way the believers become the reproduction, expansion, and physical continuation of the incarnate and incorporate Son of God and indeed the organism of the Triune God Himself.
The Johannine Jesus as Bridge and Model for the Incorporation of the Believers into the Divine Trinity (2)
The salvation of God is not primarily to save us from hell and to bring us into heaven, but rather to impart His divine life into us. By regeneration, we receive His divine life into our spirit. From our spirit, He is spreading into our soul by the process of transformation, and at His second coming, He will even saturate our body.
Faith, Regeneration, and the New Creation New Jerusalem is actually a corporate person who includes the processed and consummated Triune God and, as the issue of God’s complete salvation, all the chosen, redeemed, regenerated, sanctified, renewed, transformed, built-up believers in Christ.
The Gospel in Romans
A False Gospel
Witness Lee taught a false gospel and Living Stream Ministries continues to propagate that false gospel throughout the world. They have successfully stopped many publishers from exposing them by bankrupting them in lawsuits. Perhaps in fear of facing such bankruptcy, Hank Hanegraaff led CRI on a multi-year journey to defend their teaching. If Hanegraaff and the others involved at CRI honestly believe that Witness Lee and Living Stream Ministries teach “sound orthodoxy” then they are just as damned as Lee. Update: Listen to this account of Hank’s experience with LC/LSM given by Minoru.
Side Note
On a side note, in my effort to clearly demonstrate the errors of Lee and LSM and show the contrast between their views and Christianity, I have to note how counterproductive Westminster Theological Seminary has been in this process. You can see just how necessary it is to clearly proclaim Christian doctrine in order to refute errors like Lee’s. WTS has not done this. Instead, they have enabled their errors. First, their most praised former professor Cornelius Van Til argued “We do assert that God, that is, the whole Godhead, is one person.” In CRI’s article, they note:
Lee’s thinking was very close to that of the late Reformed theologian Cornelius Van Til on this point, and although Van Til has been criticized for his view, no one that I am aware of has charged him with heresy.
Likewise, LSM looks to WTS Professor Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. for a defense of their false interpretation of 1 Cor 15:45:
In his approach, he begins to probe the seminal importance of Paul’s economical description of Christ – the last Adam, the life-giving Spirit. Professor Gaffin forcefully addresses the hesitation within evangelical circles to engage Paul’s utterance by arguing that 1 Corinthians 15:45 is at the center of Paul’s pnuematology. He confronts the theological concerns that inform this hesitation by identifying the life-giving Spirit with the Holy Spirit… Gaffin points out that the principal concern is a reluctance to identify the life-giving Spirit with the Holy Spirit. The underlying base of this concern, however, goes much deeper because it seemingly places proponents of this identification at odds with orthodox understandings of both the Trinity and Christology, including Paul himself. Consequently, his utterance is often diluted, rationalized, or ignored. Gaffin, however, does not ignore this verse.
Gaffin’s “Life-giving Spirit” (review)
In contrast, men like John Robbins who have clearly and sternly proclaimed the gospel in the face of its deviations cannot be looked to for support by LSM. No, instead Robbins’ proclamation forces them to confront the biblical gospel. For example, see their defense of Gaffin and attempted refutation of Robbins’. May we all learn to stand firm in the face of opposition and clearly differentiate the gospel from its deviations the way that John Robbins did.
Comments
I appreciate all comments from anyone who desires to interact with what I have written here. However, all comments that are not directly related to what I have written will not be approved. The Combox is not a place for you to share your personal opinions and experiences that do not interact with what I have written.
Advertisements
|
Persona Waifu Wars Round 1 Heat One
Since Persona 5 launched this year, you know we had to do it to you. Not only are we returning to a Persona themed Waifu Wars this year, but it’s the biggest yet, featuring almost all playable characters, social links, antagonists, and other comrades! Welcome to the new Waifu Wars: Persona Rise-ing!
You can take a look at the full bracket here, or look at the embed below. We’ll be blitzing through these 64 (!) entrants at first, with Heat One featuring the first half starting right now! We’ll be ending votes on these Wednesday at noon, after which the winners will be announced pending a quick removal of obviously cheated votes (it shows us in the back-end). After that, the second half will begin, giving us a healthy 32 for the second round!
Without further ado, voting starts… now! Best of luck!
This poll is closed! Poll activity:
Start date 20-11-2017 10:00:00
End date 22-11-2017 12:00:00
Poll Results: Ulala Seruzawa or Naoto Shirogane? Naoto Shirogane (P4) 90.89% - ( 1647 votes )
Ulala Seruzawa (P2) 9.11% - ( 165 votes )
This poll is closed! Poll activity:
Start date 20-11-2017 10:00:00
End date 22-11-2017 12:00:00
Poll Results: Makoto Niijima or Yuriko Yamamoto? Makoto Niijima (P5) 93.37% - ( 1662 votes )
Yuriko Yamamoto (P1) 6.63% - ( 118 votes )
This poll is closed! Poll activity:
Start date 20-11-2017 10:00:00
End date 22-11-2017 12:00:00
Poll Results: Ichiko Ohya or Kanami Mashita? Ichiko Ohya (P5) 54.84% - ( 878 votes )
Kanami Mashita (P4DAN) 45.16% - ( 723 votes )
This poll is closed! Poll activity:
Start date 20-11-2017 10:00:00
End date 22-11-2017 12:00:00
Poll Results: Shiori Miyashiro or Yu Narukami? Yu Narukami (P4) 67.37% - ( 1061 votes )
Shiori Miyashiro (P2) 32.63% - ( 514 votes )
This poll is closed! Poll activity:
Start date 20-11-2017 10:00:00
End date 22-11-2017 12:00:00
Poll Results: Saeko Takami or Hifumi Togo? Hifumi Togo (P5) 89.61% - ( 1432 votes )
Saeko Takami (P1 & P2) 10.39% - ( 166 votes )
This poll is closed! Poll activity:
Start date 20-11-2017 10:00:00
End date 22-11-2017 12:00:00
Poll Results: Yuko Nishikawa or Lisa Silverman? Yuko Nishikawa (P3) 56.26% - ( 809 votes )
Lisa Silverman (P2) 43.74% - ( 629 votes )
This poll is closed! Poll activity:
Start date 20-11-2017 10:00:00
End date 22-11-2017 12:00:00
Poll Results: Eriko Kirishima or Female Protagonist? Female Protagonist (P3) 87.72% - ( 1364 votes )
Eriko Kirishima (P1 & P2) 12.28% - ( 191 votes )
This poll is closed! Poll activity:
Start date 20-11-2017 10:00:00
End date 22-11-2017 12:00:00
Poll Results: Yukari Takeba or Yukino Mayuzumi? Yukari Takeba (P3) 83.2% - ( 1243 votes )
Yukino Mayuzumi (P1 & P2) 16.8% - ( 251 votes )
This poll is closed! Poll activity:
Start date 20-11-2017 10:00:00
End date 22-11-2017 12:00:00
Poll Results: Chisato Kasai or Sayuri? Sayuri (P5) 66.19% - ( 826 votes )
Chisato Kasai (P1) 33.81% - ( 422 votes )
This poll is closed! Poll activity:
Start date 20-11-2017 10:00:00
End date 22-11-2017 12:00:00
Poll Results: Anna Yoshizaka / Lady Scorpio or Rei? Rei (PQ) 74.01% - ( 917 votes )
Anna Yoshizaka / Lady Scorpio (P2) 25.99% - ( 322 votes )
This poll is closed! Poll activity:
Start date 20-11-2017 10:00:00
End date 22-11-2017 12:00:00
Poll Results: Isako Toriumi or Maki Sonomura? Isako Toriumi (P3) 80.58% - ( 992 votes )
Maki Sonomura (P1) 19.42% - ( 239 votes )
This poll is closed! Poll activity:
Start date 20-11-2017 10:00:00
End date 22-11-2017 12:00:00
Poll Results: Teddie or Justine? Justine (P5) 65.75% - ( 977 votes )
Teddie (P4) 34.25% - ( 509 votes )
This poll is closed! Poll activity:
Start date 20-11-2017 10:00:00
End date 22-11-2017 12:00:00
Poll Results: Maya Amano or Lavenza? Lavenza (P5) 61.17% - ( 868 votes )
Maya Amano (P2) 38.83% - ( 551 votes )
This poll is closed! Poll activity:
Start date 20-11-2017 10:00:00
End date 22-11-2017 12:00:00
Poll Results: Trish or Aigis? Aigis (P3) 92.98% - ( 1312 votes )
Trish (P1 & P2) 7.02% - ( 99 votes )
This poll is closed! Poll activity:
Start date 20-11-2017 10:00:00
End date 22-11-2017 12:00:00
Poll Results: Fuuka Yamagishi or Junko Kurosu / Queen Aquarius? Fuuka Yamagishi (P3) 92.55% - ( 1268 votes )
Junko Kurosu / Queen Aquarius (P2) 7.45% - ( 102 votes )
This poll is closed! Poll activity:
Start date 20-11-2017 10:00:00
End date 22-11-2017 12:00:00
Poll Results: Futaba Sakura or Maiko Oohashi? Futaba Sakura (P5) 94.32% - ( 1444 votes )
Maiko Oohashi (P3) 5.68% - ( 87 votes )
Best of luck to all the entrants!
Previous winners include Naoto (Waifu Wars 2014: The Legend of Best Girl, Persona Q), Kuroyukihime (Waifu Wars 2015: Return of Best Girl, Waifu All-Comers), and the male Persona 3 Protagonist (Husbando Battle 2016: Legend of Best Boy, Husbando All-Comers).
Take a look at the full brackets in the embed below, or on Challonge. Heat Two is just as jam-packed as Heat One and will go live on Wednesday, so think it over while you can!
Reminder, this heat of the first round ends at midday GMT on Wednesday! Good luck!
|
"Our fun packaging Jargon"
"Feedback like this."
"pip lets you run it with sudo, without warning."
"Globals by default."
"So what works currently most of the time?"
python3 -m venv anenv . ./anenv/bin/activate pip install pip --upgrade pip install pygame
Help?Since asking people to use pip to install things, I get a lot of feedback on pip not working. Feedback like this.What's it for? It's not built into python?I should download pypy?You're weird.But why is it called pip?pip is broken on the raspberianpip3 doesn't exist on windowsPeople have an old pip. Old pip doesn't support wheels.I heard about eggs...Well, eggs are another zip file with python code in it. Used mainly by easy_install.The pip executable or script is for python 2, and they are using python 3.pip is for a system python, and they have another python installed. How did they install that python? Which of the several pythons did they install? Maybe if they install another python it will work this time.It's not working one time and. And now certain files can't be updated without sudo. However, now they have forgotten that sudo exists.pip doesn't tell them which python it is installing for. But I installed it!pip doesn't install things atomically, so if there is a failed install, things break. If pip was a database (it is)...Virtual environments work if you use python -m venv, but not virtualenv. Or some times it's the other way around. If you have the right packages installed on Debian, and Ubuntu... because they don't install virtualenv by default.What do you meanI can't move it to another place on my Desktop?pip installs things into global places by default.Why are packages still installed globally by default?This is not ideal. It doesn't work on windows. It doesn't work on Ubuntu. It makes some text editors crash (because virtualenvs have so many files they get sick). It confuses test discovery (because for some reason they don't know about virtual environments still and try to test random packages you have installed). You have to know about virtualenv, about pip, about running things with modules, about environment variables, and system paths. You have to know that at the beginning. Before you know anything at all.Is there even one set of instructions where people can have a new environment, and install something? Install something in a way that it might not break their other applications? In a way which won't cause them harm? Please let me know the magic words?I just tell people `pip install pygame`. Even though I know it doesn't work. And can't work. By design. I tell them to do that, because it's probably the best we got. And pip keeps getting better. And one day it will be even better.Help? Let's fix this
|
JAIPUR: HRD minister Smriti Irani on Sunday visited an astrologer in Rajasthan to know what the future held for her. The visit sparked a debate on whether the Union minister for premier institutions like IITs and IIMs should be promoting scientific thinking or superstition.Irani had visited the Bhilwara-based astrologer Pandit Nathulal Vyas before the 2014 general elections also. It is believed that the astrologer’s earlier predictions about Irani had come true, hence this visit. The elderly pandit has now reportedly predicted that she would be the country’s President one day.The HRD minister was accompanied by her husband Zubin Irani while on a tour of the state on Sunday. The couple, who visited some religious places also, spent nearly four hours at the astrologer’s place in village Karoi in Bhilwara. When Irani returned from his place she was all smiles.The news sparked strong reactions from political parties on Monday.Congress spokeswoman Archana Sharma said, “Though believing in astrology is a personal matter, someone donning the portfolio of an HRD minister should have abstained from visiting an astrologer to know about future. If the HRD minister gives importance to destiny rather than labour, the country’s youth would be misled.”She quipped, “Probably the HRD minister has reached where she is today relying just on fate. She has a reason to rely on fate than merit; hasn’t the PM made her a Union minister despite losing two general elections?” In a sharp remark, Sharma said, “It would have been better if she had continued her education that she left midway.”BJP state spokesperson Kailash Nath Bhatt said, “People should read astrophysics; it is a science. How the movement of nine planets influences our lives is scientifically analyzed.” He stressed, “People who do not understand India and its culture, indulge in such criticism.” At the same time, the party spokesperson said the HRD minister was on a personal visit and should not be targeted for her faith. “Almost every Indian has visited an astrologer at some point or other in her personal life. Why such a fuss on the minister visiting one? Judge her by her work, not by her personal faith.”The HRD minister, on the other hand, skirted the controversy. “I recognize that I bring TRPs (to news channels) and I appreciate your efforts to continue to keep me in headlines,” Irani told reporters on Monday.
|
Revelations have surfaced in a court filing that the estate of Apple founder Steve Jobs is being sued by one of the company's shareholders. The class action lawsuit claims that Apple misled investors and damaged the value of the company by striking a controversial hiring agreement with other corporations. The action formerly lists the defendants in this case as being Tim Cook, William Campbell, Millard Drexler, Arthur Levinson, Robert Iger, Andrea Jung, Fred Anderson and the Estate of Steven Jobs.
According to court papers filed this week, Apple violated the US Securities and Exchange Act by cutting deals with Google and other firms not to actively recruit employees away from each other. The case was filed by shareholder R Andre Klein on behalf of all Apple shareholders.
Basic Overview of the Action
This is a shareholder derivative action seeking to remedy the wrongdoing committed by Apple's senior directors and officers who have caused millions of dollars in damages to Apple and its shareholders. Plaintiff asserts claims under federal law for violations of Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act"), 15 U.S.C. § 78n(a), and under state law for breach of fiduciary duty, gross mismanagement, corporate waste, and breach of the duty of honest services.
Apple's co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer ("CEO"), Steve Jobs (now deceased), and other Apple executives and directors entered into unlawful, anti-competitive non-solicitation agreements with executives at other companies, such as Adobe Systems ("Adobe"), Google, Inc. ("Google"), and Intel Corporation ("Intel"). Pursuant to these agreements, which violated United States antitrust laws, the Individual Defendants caused Apple to agree not to recruit the employees of other companies, and vice versa. In an order dated August 8, 2014 in In re High- Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation, No. 11-cv-2509 LHK (N.D. Cal.), the Honorable Lucy H. Koh rejected a proposed $324.5 million settlement as inadequate and unfair based in part on the strength of the evidence against Jobs. Devoting five pages of her 32-page order to discussing the evidence against Jobs, Judge Koh identified him as "a, if not the, central figure in the alleged conspiracy" to engage in anti-poaching practices because "several witnesses, in their depositions, testified to [Jobs's] role in the anti-solicitation agreements."
In California, non-compete agreements are generally void and unenforceable, in addition to potentially violating antitrust laws.
The United States Department of Justice ("DOJ") began investigating Apple's hiring practices in 2009. The DOJ filed a complaint against Apple, Adobe, Google, Intel, Intuit, and Pixar on September 24, 2010, alleging that these companies' private agreements restrained trade, which was per se unlawful under the antitrust laws. The DOJ found the agreements "facially anticompetitive because they eliminated a significant form of competition to attract high tech employees, and, overall, substantially diminished competition to the detriment of the affected employees who were likely deprived of competitively important information and access to better job opportunities." The DOJ stated that the agreements "disrupted the normal price-setting mechanisms that apply in the labor setting."
The DOJ announced a settlement of the action on its website on September 24, 2010. (A final judgment in the action was entered on March 17, 2011.)
Despite the DOJ's investigation, Apple did not disclose to its shareholders the details of the DOJ's investigation. None of Apple's proxy statements, quarterly filings, and annual filings disclosed the DOJ investigation, the settlement reached in September of 2010, or the final judgment signed on March 17, 2011. The Company's proxy statements filed on January 11, 2011, January 9, 2012, January 7, 2013, and January 10, 2014 also failed to disclose the DOJ investigation, settlement, and final judgment.
The complaint before the court is a lengthy 77 pages wherein Klein criticized Steve Jobs as being "zealous pursuit of profits" and that "Jobs's conduct is a reminder that even widely respected businessmen can knowingly commit unlawful acts in the zealous pursuit of profits. Additionally Klein stated that "In this case, Jobs and the other individual defendants knowingly caused Apple to enter into agreements that violated California law and US antitrust laws."
The Four Counts against Apple
There are four formal Counts against Apple listed in this case as noted below:
Count I: Violation of § 14(a) of the Exchange Act against Defendants Campbell, Cook, Drexler, Iger, Jung, and Levinson.
Count II: Breach of Fiduciary Duty and Aiding and Abetting Breach of Fiduciary Duty against All Individual Defendants
Count III: Gross Mismanagement against All Individual Defendants
Count IV: Waste of Corporate Assets against All Individual Defendants
The class action case presented in today's report was filed in the California Northern District Court, San Jose Office. The Presiding Judge in this case is noted as being Judge Paul Singh Grewal. This is a Stockholders Suit that was originally filed on Monday.
Patently Apple presents only a brief summary of certain legal cases/ lawsuits which are part of the public record for journalistic news purposes. Readers are cautioned that Patently Apple does not offer an opinion on the merit of the case and strictly presents the allegations made in said legal cases / lawsuits. A lawyer should be consulted for any further details or analysis. About Comments: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit comments
|
The $35 tablet announcement was nothing more than shameless political opportunism
"India unveils $35 computer for students," says CNN.com. "India unveils prototype for $35 touch-screen computer," reports BBC News. "India to provide $35 computing device to students," says BusinessWeek.
Wow! That's great! Too bad it will never exist. That this announcement is reported straight and without even a hint of skepticism is incomprehensible to me.
India's human resource ministry announced this week a "breakthrough" solar-powered tablet computer that would cost only US$35 in "early 2011." Reports say the tablet was developed at various Indian universities. "We have made the breakthrough and are now ready to capture the market," said Mamta Varma, a spokeswoman for the human-resource-development ministry.
In the first phase of the rollout, a million tablets would be provided to university students. In later phases, the program would be expanded to primary and secondary students. Millions of students would be using these cheap tablets within a year.
Officials even hinted that in the future the price could drop to $10 per tablet.
The project appears to target a similar demographic and purpose as the "One Laptop per Child program, which is still struggling to bring the cost of its non-solar, non-touch screen computer down to its goal of $100.
What's really going on
Because the mainstream media is too gullible, shameless and lazy to report this story with even the slightest hint of skepticism, let me spell out what is almost certainly going on here.
Indian politicians have discovered that announcing technological "breakthroughs" that leverage Indian engineering prowess to deliver computers to everybody helps get press and win votes. It's a cheap gimmick that works because of the gullibility of the media.
While the press pays attention to the Big Announcement, hardly any media outlets notices later when nothing ever comes of it. Why? Because a headline with "$35 tablet" in it brings traffic, eyeballs and readers, whereas a headline with "media duped again" brings only shame. So they go for the glory, but omit the shame.
For example: In February of last year, the Indian government announced a $10 to $20 laptop called the "Shaksat. Like the $35 tablet, the Shaksat had 2GB of RAM, but details on other components were impossible to come by.
It was to be rolled out in 6 months, and was to be used by millions of students across India, transforming the Indian educational system and economy. So where is the Shaksat?
In 1999, a group of Indian scientists and engineers developed a low-cost computer for the poor called the "Simputer. It was a Linux-basedpen-and-touch tablet with text-to-speech capability. The Simputer was announced with great fanfare by the Indian government. The goal was to sell 50,000, but only 4,000 were ever sold.
Are you detecting a formula here? Pandering politicians hold up a prototype and proclaim a "breakthrough." A new computer, developed by students and professors at India's prestigious engineering universities, has "cracked the code" for low-cost computing for the masses.
Very soon these devices will be pushed out to Indian students, transforming the educational levels of the country and providing the tools for Indian technological leadership in the future.
Everybody wants to believe this story. But that doesn't make it true.
Why the $35 Indian tablet will never exist
India itself doesn't build touch screens. They would have to be imported from China or Taiwan. The current price for this component alone exceeds $35. Like touch-screens, most solar panels are also built in China. But even the cheapest ones powerful enough to charge a tablet battery are more expensive to manufacture than $35.
Plus you need to pay for the 2GB of RAM, the case, and the rest of the computer electronics. Even if you factor in Moore's Law, and assume the absolute cheapest rock-bottom junk components, a solar touch-tablet with 2GB of RAM cannot be built anytime soon for less than $100.
More to the point, no country in the world can build a cheaper computer than China can. The entire tech sector in China is optimized for ultra low-cost manufacturing. All the engineering brilliance in India can't change that.
Even if Moore's Law unexpectedly accelerated, and India was miraculously able to build a $35 tablet next year, there would be 100 Chinese companies selling tablets for $20 and the Indian initiative would be pointless anyway.
This is largely what happened with the Simputer. By the time the consortium managed to get the device through the manufacturing process, the open market was producing devices that were far cheaper and better.
So in addition to this latest engineering "breakthrough" announced by the Indian government, they would also have to make a breakthrough in the ability of governments to produce cheaper computers than the open market, an event that has never before occurred -- and probably never will.
The awful truth
The $35 tablet announcement was nothing more than shameless political opportunism. The world's media were suckered (again) -- hook, line and sinker.
The whole affair is a shameful, disgusting spectacle that represents everything that's wrong with politics, the media, and public gullibility in the new idiocracy.
Cheap computers are nice. But what we really need is a little common sense.
Mike Elgan writes about technology and global tech culture. Contact Mike at [email protected], follow him on Twitter or his blog, The Raw Feed.
Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.
|
Today, Buffalo Bills players are enjoying their second day off from training camp practices and meetings since they reported for duty on July 27. It's a good day to reflect on the first eight public practices of the 2013 season, and to take stock of which players have impressed thus far in camp, as well as a handful that have left a bit (or more) to be desired. Let's dive right in...
Stock up: Alex Carrington
We'd be happy to tell you all about how Carrington has looked superb running with the first-team defense, but head coach Doug Marrone did it better than we could have after last night's scrimmage.
"He’s had an outstanding camp. He really has," Marrone said Monday evening. "The one thing that you have to work on during camp is pad level quite a bit. We talked to the coaches about that. But I think Alex Carrington has had the best pad level throughout the camp on both sides of the ball. And I think he’s playing extremely well for us right now."
Stock down: Cordy Glenn
Buffalo's franchise left tackle had a so-so conclusion to his rookie season, and doesn't appear to have made much of a leap (if any) entering his second pro season. Pass rushers are beating Glenn in practice, and he's been flagged for penalties a few times. On one occasion during Monday night's scrimmage, he was late trotting onto the field after a punt, then gave up a sack on the very next play. Glenn is not even remotely the most pressing concern for this football team - not even along the offensive line, for that matter - but it'd be nice to see an improved level of play from him.
Stock up: EJ Manuel
True, he has struggled for two straight practices taking all of the first-team reps (Kevin Kolb is out of the lineup). Sure, that casts doubt on, mostly, how quickly he'll be able to slide into the starting lineup and fulfill the "future is now" wishes of a playoff-starved fan base. Several strong practices early in camp indicate, however, that Manuel is making quick strides with technique; the physical part of the game won't be an issue. How quickly he can get up to speed and play consistently are the big questions, and knowing what we know about how he approaches the preparation aspect of the game, there's plenty of reason for optimism - even the giddy variety. Immediate expectations, however, could stand to be tempered.
Stock down: Jairus Byrd
First-team safeties Aaron Williams and Da'Norris Searcy have made a smattering of plays and avoided being liabilities for the first-team defense, but neither has been a standout. Still, there is not a desperate need for the Bills to have Byrd in the lineup - and as time passes and he continues to stay away from team activities, he'll only further alienate a select (read: large) chunk of the fan base. When he returns he'll likely get up to speed quickly, but for now, he's falling ever further behind.
Stock up: Marquise Goodwin
5'9" wide receivers are typically pigeon-holed into very specific roles within an offense, but Goodwin has proven himself capable of much more in camp. The Olympic athlete can play the ball in the air, out-jump much taller defensive backs and has the vertical speed to demand respect playing on the perimeter of the field. He's rough around the edges and may not be completely ready to contribute immediately, but Goodwin is a football player through and through - and a potentially dynamic one at that.
Stock down: Alan Branch
While Carrington and others have impressed along the defensive line, Branch - a free agent signee from Seattle this spring - has been something of an also-ran. We even thought that Torell Troup was more impactful than Branch during the scrimmage, and if the oft-injured fourth-year player is making more plays in the camp setting, it makes you wonder how big a role Branch will have in the defensive line rotation this season.
Stock up: Jamie Blatnick
The Bills released Mark Anderson just prior to training camp, so we already had a pretty good idea that Jerry Hughes, Blatnick and other pass rushers were making positive impressions with the coaching staff. Kourtnei Brown has received just about as much positive press at this point, but it was Blatnick that was the most impressive player on the field during last night's scrimmage. If he keeps this up, the edge rusher could compete for a sub-package pass rushing role in 2013.
Stock down: Crezdon Butler
Cornerback depth is a huge issue for this team, and Butler - a former Pittsburgh mid-round pick that the team was high on when he came out of Clemson in 2010, and remained high on through this off-season - is chief among the group of young corners not stepping up. He's made more waves for two camp fights than for his play, and has fallen down to second- and third-team work - even when the team was handing reps to young players while Leodis McKelvin was getting up to speed. Once thought of as a candidate to be the team's top backup corner, Butler may not even make the team at this point.
Stock up: Jay Ross
While Carrington is stealing all the ink on the defensive line, the little-known Ross has had an impressive camp, as well. He took a lot of first-team reps while Marcell Dareus recovered from a viral sickness, and has remained in the first-team rotation ever since. He looks quick off the ball and strong at the point of attack, has clearly leap-frogged the aforementioned Branch on the depth chart, and stands a good chance of staying there.
Stock down: Zebrie Sanders
Fans carried high hopes for last year's fifth-round pick, even as he recovered from surgeries on both hips and a missed rookie season. Even as Chris Hairston has missed practices with his own health issues, Sanders has failed to make an impression, instead establishing himself as a mainstay third-team left tackle. He's behind Thomas Welch on the depth chart at this point, and right now looks like a long-shot to make the 53-man roster.
That's our take. Who has and/or hasn't impressed you, Bills fans?
|
German Government Official Wants Backdoors In Every Device Connected To The Internet
from the bring-back-the-old-Germany-we-know-and-hate! dept
The US Department of Justice is reviving its anti-encryption arguments despite not being given any signals from the administration or Congress that undermining encryption is something either entity desires. The same thing is happening in Germany, with Interior Secretary Thomas de Maizière continuing an anti-encryption crusade very few German government officials seem interested in joining.
The key difference in de Maizière's push is that he isn't limiting potential backdoors to cell phones. He appears to believe anything connected to the internet should be backdoored… possibly even the cars German citizens drive. (h/t Riana Pfefferkorn)
The RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND) reported that Thomas de Maizière had written up a draft proposal for the interior minister conference, taking place next week in Leipzig, which he has called “the legal duty for third parties to allow for secret surveillance.” According to the RND, the proposal would “dramatically extend” the state’s powers to spy on its citizens.
And it's not just backdoors being suggested. De Maizière wants all electronics to be law enforcement-complicit. All things -- especially those connected to the internet -- should be constructed with government access in mind.
For example, the modern locking systems on cars are so intelligent that they even warn a driver if their car is shaken a little bit. De Maizière wants the new law to ensure that these alerts would not be sent out to a car owner if the police determined it to be justified by their investigation.
De Maizière wants the government to be able to intercept and block notifications sent from cars to the people that own them. But it's far more than smarter cars being compromised on behalf of the government. If de Maizière gets his way, it will be every connected device everywhere.
De Maizière also wants the security services to have the ability to spy on any device connected to the internet. Tech companies would have to give the state "back door" access to private tablets and computers, and even to smart TVs and digital kitchen systems.
It's rare for government officials to blatantly state citizens should be under surveillance at all times. Craftier politicians tend to use less direct rhetoric, even if they aspire to the same goals. This blatant call for mass surveillance of millions of innocent people has provoked a reaction from de Maizière's colleagues, although probably not the one he was looking for.
The proposal was met with astonishment by digital activists and politicians on Friday.
De Maizière seems blissfully unaware Germany was once home to a powerful dictator who killed millions of his own citizens while deploying a secret police force. And once that period ended, part of Germany rolled directly into a program of intense domestic surveillance utilizing the Stasi -- one of the most brutally effective secret police forces ever wielded by a government against its own people. De Maizière's proposal is so tone deaf -- given the history of the nation he serves -- it's tempting to believe he's an under-recognized satirist. But de Maizière seems completely serious. Fortunately for Germans, no one else seems to take de Maizière quite as seriously as he does.
Filed Under: backdoors, encryption, germany, iot, privacy, surveillance, thomas de maiziere
|
Level 3 Communications said on Monday that it had agreed to buy TW Telecom, a provider of business Internet connections, for about $5.68 billion, as consolidation continues in the telecommunications industry.
Under the terms of the deal, Level 3 will pay $10 a share in cash and 0.7 of one of its shares for each TW Telecom share. That offer was worth about $40.86 a share, 12 percent above TW Telecom’s closing price on Friday. In addition, Level 3 will also acquire about $1.6 billion in debt.
The telecom industry has already played host to some of the biggest deals this year, as companies seek to gain bigger scale. Comcast has agreed to buy Time Warner Cable, while AT&T is seeking to take over DirecTV. And Sprint and T-Mobile USA are hoping to merge as well.
If completed, Monday’s takeover would add to the size of Level 3, one of the country’s biggest providers of back-end Internet services. A so-called Internet backbone provider, the company’s network of fiber optic cables is used by the likes of Google and Netflix.
Buying TW Telecom, which is based in Lone Tree, Colo., will give Level 3 a significant provider of network services like Internet access and online-based voice calling to businesses. TW Telecom reported $36.5 million in profit last year on $1.6 billion in revenue.
Level 3 expects the deal to generate about $240 million in cost savings, much of which will come from shaving network and operating expenses.
“We believe this is a financially compelling and very strategic acquisition for Level 3 that will enhance our ability to continue to gain market share,” Jeff Storey, Level 3’s chief executive, said in a statement. “The transaction further solidifies Level 3’s position as a premier global communications provider to the enterprise, government and carrier market, combining TW Telecom’s extensive local operations and assets in North America with Level 3’s global assets and capabilities.
The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.
Level 3 was advised by Citigroup, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, while Rothschild provided a fairness opinion. TW Telecom was advised by Evercore Partners and the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
Credit Suisse was an adviser to Singapore Technologies Telemedia, the biggest shareholder in Level 3 with a 23 percent stake.
|
Copyright by WTRF - All rights reserved
The Belmont County mom who pleaded guilty to helping her boyfriend rape a child has been sentenced to life in prison, plus ten years by Judge Frank Fregiato.
RELATED STORY: Belmont County Mom Pleads Guilty to Her Role in the Rape of Child
37-year-old Jeannie Mae Carpenter pleaded guilty to charges of one count of complicity to commit rape, two counts of permitting child abuse, one count of endangering children, and one count of obstructing official business earlier this month. She will be eligible for parole in 20 years.
The man in the case, 32-year-old James John Kirksey of Wheeling was sentenced to two lifetimes in prison by Judge Frank Fregiato in November.
RELATED STORY: Wheeling Man Sentenced to 2 Lifetimes In Prison For Rape of 12-Year-Old Girl
Judge Fregiato called the case "a crime against nature."
|
John Rowell can fondly recall memories from his days as a Boy Scout in the early 1960s, the adventures of wilderness camping and canoeing with his buddies in Troop 211 in Fargo. He can also vividly recall lessons in “citizenship in the nation, citizenship in the community and citizenship in the home” that were drilled into him, culminating in Rowell becoming an Eagle Scout in 1966.
Rowell has proudly kept his Eagle Scout badge in his home office in Moorhead, at least until last week, when he drove to the Fargo Boy Scout office and gave it back.
It was during President Donald Trump’s outrageous, self-serving and mean-spirited (my words, not Rowell’s) speech to the Boy Scout Jamboree that the scouting laws of “courteous,” “kind” and “reverent” came back to Rowell. Egged on by Trump, many of the Scouts cheered or booed on cue, and to Rowell’s dismay, scouting leaders did little if anything to stop it.
Rowell, a retired mail carrier who served in the Army reserves, didn’t want to discuss the nature of Trump’s speech because nobody had any control over it, likely not even Trump’s speechwriters. But Scout leaders throughout the crowd could have controlled their Scouts simply by standing up, facing them and giving them the Boy Scout sign, which Rowell said is the recognized signal for quiet.
“It didn’t matter what the speaker said, I identified it as an enormous failure of leadership by the adults who were there,” Rowell said.
The behavior of many of the Scouts was a direct dismissal of the opinions and cultural values of other students around them, Rowell believes. “A Scout is supposed to be a friend to all and a brother to every other Scout.
“To cheer in a disrespectful way, and to boo a previous president or the losing candidate is against the very values of being a Boy Scout. You are to show respect to people at all times.”
In his speech, Trump said Hillary Clinton “didn’t work hard” in her campaign. Kids booed when her name was spoken. Trump bragged about his electoral success and criticized President Barack Obama for sending a video (a gracious tribute to scouting, in comparison) to the Scouts last year instead of speaking in person. He thanked the crowd — made up largely of children — for voting for him. Then, he again attacked the media with lies.
“By the way, what do you think the chances are that this incredible, massive crowd, record-setting, is going to be shown on television tonight? One percent or zero?” he said to applause. “The fake media will say: President Trump — and you know what this is — President Trump spoke before a small crowd of Boy Scouts today. That’s some — that is some crowd. Fake media. Fake news.”
Of course, CNN aired the speech live and showed the large crowd.
Previous presidents who spoke to the Boy Scouts all focused on the values emphasized by their code, and they all avoided trying to score political points.
The Scouts issued a news release after Trump’s speech, explaining the group was nonpartisan and “does not promote any one political position, candidate or philosophy.”
Rowell was disappointed by the leadership’s response, calling it “milquetoast.”
Glenn Elvig is another Minnesota Eagle Scout who was appalled by the speech and Scout leadership reaction (even after a second, marginally stronger apology by the Scouts on Thursday), and is considering sending his medal back. He’s writing to the national office and will wait for a satisfactory reply before deciding whether to keep his badge or return it.
Watching Trump’s speech, “I was getting physically ill,” said Elvig, who has voted for candidates in both parties and considers himself fiscally conservative and socially liberal. Elvig was the Afton troop’s first Eagle Scout in 1970, and one of his projects was to erect the flagpole in downtown Afton.
“The whole idea of scouting is service to others, not service to self,” said Elvig. “But it was all about him.”
Scout leadership had reminded the kids to behave and avoid chanting on their website before the event but did little to stop it once the speech started.
“A Scout is to be obedient, and this was direct disobedience to that instruction,” Rowell said. “This was an opportunity for people to shine, to show respect and dignity and attention to their own principles.”
“People don’t understand how responsive Scouts are to the sign,” he added. “They know that when the hand goes up, the mouth goes shut.”
Because of his disappointment, Rowell felt he had to follow the values he learned in scouting and give back the Eagle Scout badge. He said a woman at the front desk accepted it.
“At first she looked surprised, then sad,” Rowell said. “I was sad too. As hard as it was to do, I thought I had to bring attention to the leaders of how this had gone so wrong. I want them to take steps to ensure this won’t happen again.”
The White House has refused to apologize, saying the kids seemed to like the speech. After all, it’s not about values anymore, it’s about ratings.
|
Whatever intention Maclean's had in publishing "Too Asian?" by Stephanie Findlay and Nicholas Kohler, the story in the November 10 issue jeopardizes the magazine's reputation of producing "strong investigative reporting" by publishing careless writing that tries to pass off inaccurate stereotypes as "facts." Findlay and Kohler might as well cite Gilmore Girls' Lane Kim and Harold & Kumar's Harold Lee while they try to stimulate a dilemma by transplanting a hot American debate into a Canadian context:
"The dilemma is this: Canadian institutions operate as pure meritocracies when it comes to admissions, and admirably so. Privately, however, many in the education community worry that universities risk becoming too skewed one way, changing campus life – a debate that's been more or less out in the open in the U.S. for years but remains muted here."
At the end of the article, I was still uncertain about what the dilemma is in Canada. That the writers think Canadian universities operate as "pure meritocracies" is admirable. If both U of T President David Naylor and UBC President Stephen Toope are not concerned about the percentage of Asian students at their universities, why should Maclean's readers be?
So, what's the problem?
The problem is that Maclean's is trying to spin a non-issue into a debate about race for the sake of selling a extra few issues and luring extra clicks to keep their online traffic up. It's reckless from a journalistic standpoint to publish an article that overgeneralizes and typecasts an entire race of people. This kind of writing belongs in a tabloid, not in a magazine that touts its highly acclaimed journalistic reputation. Publications should be wary of green-lighting articles that may have negative social repercussions by reinforcing stereotypes:
"'Too Asian" is not about racism, say students like Alexandra: many white students simply believe that competing with Asians – both Asian Canadians and international students – requires a sacrifice of time and freedom they're not willing to make."
"Too Asian" is, in fact, about racism. It's about taking Asian-Canadians and Asian international students at face-value and grouping them under the same umbrella, then stereotyping them as shut-ins and academic robots. Because Findlay and Kohler fail to address the cultural distinctions between Asian Canadians and Asian international students, they fail to acknowledge a large majority of Asian Canadians who are incredibly involved and by no means lack social skills.
They also fail to explore the make-up of domestic Asian students and international Asian students at each referenced university. Instead, they carelessly draw a big circle around all these diverse groups and label them "Asian" for simplicity's sake.
A first-generation Canadian, I was raised in Toronto and attended high school in the middle of the city at Yonge and Eglinton. My friends were a mixture of Chinese, Koreans, Serbians, Latvians, Dutch, Jews, Italians, Persian, English, and Irish. We were involved with school clubs and after school we socialized together.
As each of us moved on to university, we each continued to make new friends of all races and creeds and continued to be involved in extracurricular activities on and off campus. The reason why my Asian friends and I got into university cannot be accounted for by "fact(s) born out by hard data" (whatever that means) or by our tendency to be "strivers, high-achievers and single-minded in (our) approach to university."
I succeed because I choose to surround myself with a group of motivated individuals, based on character, not race, who motivate me with their own strong work ethic and enthusiasm to continue to achieve on and off-campus. I earned my spot in university based on academic merit. The fact that I am Asian should be irrelevant.
For every five metaphorical steps any Asian takes forward to defy popular Asian stereotypes it seems that some new ceiling appears right after the previous had a chance to be broken. A magazine of Maclean's' reputation and reach should help lead initiatives that nurture intercultural dialogue instead of publishing articles based on lazy journalism.
|
The right to read is a fictional story but it warns of a future that has already started to arrive; it paints a picture where information is controlled with a heavy hand and simply reading, let alone speaking is an extremely dangerous activity. In the words of William Gibson, "The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed". Restrictions on the right to read though the Internet perfectly match this observation. A lot should be said about perceptions of censorship, and it is often thought that places like Syria or Iran are unique. Generally, people in the West hold that those countries obviously censor as is consistent with facts of life in a supposedly non-free country. This probably holds a lot of truth but it absolutely fails to address the core of the issue — these countries and those networks are not unique.
In fact, we find uncensored networks to almost be an abnormal state. The so-called free countries in the West often shape and tamper with network traffic. They often also log data and even collaborate with governments. Generally, people don't see evidence of this and as a result, they often perceive that their Internet connections aren't monitored or censored. These days are quickly coming to an end and while it sounds like hyperbole, here are examples in the United Kingdom and in the United States of America.
Recently it has come to our attention that our primary website is filtered by Vodafone in the UK, by 3 (three.co.uk) in the UK, by O2 in the UK, and by T-Mobile in the UK and the USA. It used to be the case that we only saw filtering and censorship events in places like Egypt, Syria, or Iran and now we're going to explore what those attacks look like in the context of the UK and the USA.
When a visitor uses a pre-paid account on the T-Mobile USA network and attempts to visit http://www.torproject.org/, they are redirected to a block page. This is enabled by default without user's affirmative consent and only savvy privileged users may even attempt to disable this censorship. There is an informational page about the T-Mobile censorship system and it explains that this censorship may be disabled. We've heard reports that attempts to disable the censorship are not always successful and this certainly doesn't bode well for an easy and censorship-free Internet experience.
The T-Mobile USA network censorship appears to be simple to bypass: it appears to only trigger when a client sends Host: torproject.org on TCP port 80 and visitors that use HTTPS will probably not notice or be obviously impacted by their censorship.
This kind of censorship raises all kinds of interesting questions. I suspect it raises US legal and social questions as well. The Tor Project is a registered 501c3 non-profit corporation in the state of Massachusetts, and the block was experienced in California. Does this count as interfering with interstate commerce? What duty of care does T-Mobile USA have when it relies on systems or infrastructure funded by the public? What duty of care do they have as a common carrier?
Similarly, when a user on the UK Vodafone network visits http://www.torproject.org/ they are greeted by a block page as well. You can visit this block page without directly using their networks. Detecting their filters is straightforward and we see tampering at the sixth hop.
Here is a tcptraceroute to TCP port 80 of torproject.org from an Ubuntu machine connected to the Internet via Vodafone UK:
< br /> Tracing the path to < a href = "http://www.torproject.org" rel = "nofollow" > www . torproject . org </ a > ( 86 . 59 . 30 . 36 ) on TCP port 80 ( www ) , 30 hops max < br /> 1 192 . 168 . 1 . 1 2.379 ms 1.011 ms 1.313 ms < br /> 2 10 . 252 . 225 . 61 90.998 ms 133.672 ms 95.963 ms < br /> 3 10 . 252 . 224 . 186 78.865 ms 91.722 ms 91.415 ms < br /> 4 * * *< br /> 5 10 . 203 . 64 . 130 88.502 ms 73.259 ms 80.765 ms < br /> 6 < a href = "http://www.torproject.org" rel = "nofollow" > www . torproject . org </ a > ( 86 . 59 . 30 . 36 ) [ open ] 77.927 ms 152.599 ms 96.399 ms < br />
Here is a normal traceroute to torproject.org from an Ubuntu machine connected to the internet via Vodafone UK:
< br /> < a href = "http://www.torproject.org" rel = "nofollow" > www . torproject . org </ a > ( 86 . 59 . 30 . 36 ) , 30 hops , 60 byte packets < br /> traceroute toa hrefrelwwwtorprojectorg86593036hops max byte packetsbr 1 192 . 168 . 1 . 1 ( 192 . 168 . 1 . 1 ) 9.669 ms 9.583 ms 9.460 ms < br /> 2 10 . 252 . 225 . 61 ( 10 . 252 . 225 . 61 ) 98.084 ms 98.046 ms 98.224 ms < br /> 3 10 . 252 . 224 . 219 ( 10 . 252 . 224 . 219 ) 98.760 ms 109.326 ms 109.261 ms < br /> 4 host203 . msm . che . vodafone ( 10 . 203 . 64 . 154 ) 109.087 ms 127.554 ms 127.426 ms < br /> 5 * * *< br /> 6 * * *< br /> 7 * * *< br /> 8 * * *< br /> 9 85 . 205 . 0 . 110 ( 85 . 205 . 0 . 110 ) 180.920 ms 180.692 ms 180.652 ms < br /> 10 85 . 205 . 0 . 109 ( 85 . 205 . 0 . 109 ) 180.659 ms 180.473 ms *< br /> 11 85 . 205 . 116 . 5 ( 85 . 205 . 116 . 5 ) 260.480 ms * 85 . 205 . 116 . 1 ( 85 . 205 . 116 . 1 ) 152.107 ms < br /> 12 92 . 79 . 213 . 157 ( 92 . 79 . 213 . 157 ) 152.265 ms 152.099 ms 151.808 ms < br /> 13 92 . 79 . 209 . 210 ( 92 . 79 . 209 . 210 ) 151.453 ms 151.124 ms 92 . 79 . 203 . 254 ( 92 . 79 . 203 . 254 ) 151.129 ms < br /> 14 vin - 145 - 254 - 19 - 130 . arcor - ip . net ( 145 . 254 . 19 . 130 ) 157.978 ms vin - 145 - 254 - 19 - 126 . arcor - ip . net ( 145 . 254 . 19 . 126 ) 119.699 ms 129.820 ms < br /> 15 te3 - 1 - vix - iec - c2 . ix . sil . at ( 193 . 203 . 0 . 6 ) 129.999 ms 136.314 ms 136.338 ms < br /> 16 86 . 59 . 118 . 145 ( 86 . 59 . 118 . 145 ) 136.033 ms 135.826 ms 135.666 ms < br /> 17 < a href = "http://www.torproject.org" rel = "nofollow" > www . torproject . org </ a > ( 86 . 59 . 30 . 36 ) 151.282 ms 118.185 ms 114.603 ms < br />
We've additionally found that pre-paid T-Mobile UK accounts also experience censorship that is similar to T-Mobile USA. Detection of their filter is possible with some of the techniques that I've demonstrated, and it is quite trivial to see that TCP port 80 and 443 are treated in a special way.
Here is a tcptraceroute to TCP port 80 of torproject.org from an Ubuntu machine connected to the Internet via T-Mobile UK:
< br /> Tracing the path to torproject . org ( 38 . 229 . 72 . 14 ) on TCP port 80 ( www ) , 30 hops max < br /> 1 * * *< br /> 2 10 . 126 . 241 . 49 305.721 ms 429.908 ms 449.875 ms < br /> 3 10 . 70 . 16 . 221 480.031 ms 339.890 ms 429.951 ms < br /> 4 10 . 70 . 17 . 87 480.447 ms 449.365 ms 439.979 ms < br /> 5 vescum . torproject . org ( 38 . 229 . 72 . 14 ) [ open ] 459.935 ms 659.964 ms 449.849 ms < br />
Here is a tcptraceroute to TCP port 443 of torproject.org from an Ubuntu machine connected to the Internet via T-Mobile UK:
< br /> Tracing the path to torproject . org ( 86 . 59 . 30 . 36 ) on TCP port 443 ( https ) , 30 hops max < br /> 1 * * *< br /> 2 10 . 126 . 241 . 53 357.474 ms 360.016 ms 389.772 ms < br /> 3 10 . 70 . 16 . 217 490.136 ms 409.878 ms 359.945 ms < br /> 4 10 . 70 . 17 . 87 469.956 ms 489.883 ms 389.868 ms < br /> 5 < a href = "http://www.torproject.org" rel = "nofollow" > www . torproject . org </ a > ( 86 . 59 . 30 . 36 ) 410.024 ms 420.494 ms 399.888 ms < br /> 6 10 . 70 . 17 . 66 389.470 ms 429.923 ms 339.861 ms < br /> 7 10 . 70 . 16 . 50 430.002 ms 349.850 ms 450.012 ms < br /> 8 10 . 70 . 17 . 103 339.900 ms 389.836 ms 390.031 ms < br /> 9 149 . 254 . 199 . 162 369.851 ms * 924.522 ms < br /> 10 10 . 126 . 168 . 218 420.035 ms 379.878 ms 409.968 ms < br /> 11 xe - 1 - 3 - 2 - 19 . lon10 . ip4 . tinet . net ( 77 . 67 . 73 . 209 ) 469.942 ms 480.002 ms 499.940 ms < br /> 12 xe - 5 - 3 - 0 . vie20 . ip4 . tinet . net ( 89 . 149 . 180 . 6 ) 399.851 ms 379.892 ms 379.929 ms < br /> 13 silver - server - gw . ip4 . tinet . net ( 77 . 67 . 82 . 234 ) 419.899 ms 479.926 ms 449.923 ms < br /> 14 < a href = "http://www.torproject.org" rel = "nofollow" > www . torproject . org </ a > ( 86 . 59 . 30 . 36 ) 389.925 ms 449.789 ms 549.993 ms < br /> 15 < a href = "http://www.torproject.org" rel = "nofollow" > www . torproject . org </ a > ( 86 . 59 . 30 . 36 ) [ open ] 419.869 ms 469.997 ms 479.839 ms < br />
Compare with a normal traceroute to torproject.org from an Ubuntu machine connected to the Internet via T-Mobile UK:
< br /> . org ( 38 . 229 . 72 . 14 ) , 30 hops , 60 byte packets < br /> traceroute to torprojectorg382297214hops max byte packetsbr 1 * * *< br /> 2 10 . 126 . 241 . 49 ( 10 . 126 . 241 . 49 ) 99.671 ms 99.856 ms 159.584 ms < br /> 3 10 . 70 . 16 . 221 ( 10 . 70 . 16 . 221 ) 179.672 ms 190.046 ms 159.760 ms < br /> 4 10 . 70 . 16 . 50 ( 10 . 70 . 16 . 50 ) 190.250 ms 179.356 ms 90.611 ms < br /> 5 10 . 70 . 17 . 103 ( 10 . 70 . 17 . 103 ) 90.565 ms 110.275 ms 90.508 ms < br /> 6 149 . 254 . 199 . 162 ( 149 . 254 . 199 . 162 ) 110.476 ms 110.449 ms 110.391 ms < br /> 7 10 . 126 . 168 . 214 ( 10 . 126 . 168 . 214 ) 70.022 ms 70.062 ms 60.303 ms < br /> 8 xe - 1 - 3 - 2 - 19 . lon10 . ip4 . tinet . net ( 77 . 67 . 73 . 209 ) 60.322 ms 69.380 ms 69.383 ms < br /> 9 * * *< br /> 10 limelight - lon - gw . ip4 . tinet . net ( 213 . 200 . 77 . 118 ) 59.798 ms 60.535 ms 179.659 ms < br /> 11 tge11 - 1 . fr4 . lga . llnw . net ( 69 . 28 . 172 . 149 ) 240.999 ms 221.715 ms 221.191 ms < br /> 12 tge14 - 4 . fr4 . ord . llnw . net ( 69 . 28 . 189 . 53 ) 230.570 ms 229.966 ms 210.814 ms < br /> tge14fr4llnwnet692818953msmsmsbr 13 tge7 - 1 . fr3 . ord . llnw . net ( 69 . 28 . 172 . 41 ) 210.575 ms 200.446 ms 199.453 ms < br /> tge7fr3llnwnet692817241msmsmsbr 14 ve8 . fr3 . ord4 . llnw . net ( 68 . 142 . 80 . 130 ) 169.521 ms 148.181 ms 168.037 ms < br /> 15 cymru . tge6 - 3 . fr3 . ord4 . llnw . net ( 68 . 142 . 73 . 198 ) 248.264 ms 229.474 ms 249.066 ms < br /> 16 vescum . torproject . org ( 38 . 229 . 72 . 14 ) 249.289 ms 249.234 ms 259.448 ms < br />
In the examples above we see that T-Mobile UK treats TCP port 80 in a special manner and effectively stops users from reaching our web site. This is an attack against users who attempt to connect to our infrastructure. This attack, while primitive, demonstrates an active and malicious action on the part of the above named Internet providers.
We've additionally seen reports of the UK O2 network blocking connections to http://www.torproject.org/ in exactly the same way that Vodafone UK blocks access. The O2 filter has been covered in the popular media in the recent past and we're sad to hear that they've decided to include Tor's website in their race to the bottom.
In all the above cases we do not see DNS tampering but rather outright Man-In-The-Middle attacks against connections to our web server. These censorship systems do not currently implement a Man-In-The-Middle attack against the SSL services offered by our web server. It is not much of a stretch of the imagination to think that such an action may be a future plan; we've seen it elsewhere.
Current users of the Tor network are not impacted by this filtering, but these networks are attempting to deny new users the ability to start using Tor without extensive efforts. You can view their filter page without using their service; the exact block page is also available externally. It appears that it is possible for users to disable this censorship by providing a credit card as a proof of age. This is not exactly a privacy-friendly tactic. The O2 Twitter account contacted me and said they were willing to review their censorship policy for torproject.org but they did not offer to remove the censorship entirely.
This trend of providing partially censored Internet in what we all think of as free countries is alarming. Are we supposed to look the other way because the mobile Internet isn't the same as the "real" Internet? Should we worry that Vodafone's capabilities and behavior here remind us of what they did in Egypt last year? It would seem that the war over network neutrality is far from won.
(Investigation and research thanks go to Andrew Lewman, Steven Murdoch and Runa Sandvik of the Tor Project, SiNA of RedTeam LLC, Jim Killock, Lee Maguire, Peter Bradwell of the Open Rights Group and their project blocked.org.uk and Richard Clayton from the University of Cambridge.)
|
The gall of this is unbelievable. But knowing the sniveling, spineless Brits, they will pay him something. In fact, they’re paying him already: “Adebolajo and his accomplice Michael Adebowale, 26, received £200,000 in legal aid after murdering the Fusilier. Adebolajo has hired a lawyer to pursue compensation of £25,000, claiming to ‘suffer distress, loss and damage.’ But the two-year fight could end up costing taxpayers a further £50,000 in legal costs and £25,000 for a police probe – bringing the total to £100,000.”
“Lee Rigby’s brutal killer to sue prison for £25,000 over ‘gross affront to his personal dignity,'” by Tom Pettifor, Mirror, October 4, 2017:
Lee Rigby’s killer is suing for £25,000 after claiming his treatment in prison was a “gross affront to his personal dignity”, court papers reveal. Michael Adebolajo, 32, is demanding compensation after he lost two teeth during a scuffle with guards in 2013. He says he was assaulted by warders at Belmarsh Prison in South East London and suffered “distress, loss and damage”, even though the officers were cleared. Documents obtained by the Mirror say his “psychiatric injury” was made worse as officials “continue to fail to apologise”. Islamist extremists Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, 28, ran Fusilier Lee over in their car near his barracks in Woolwich, South East London, in 2013. The killer then tried to cut off 25-year-old Lee’s head with a knife. Lee’s father, Phil McClure, 57, said: “He never apologised for what he did to my son and now he wants an apology from the Prison Service?”…
The Truth Must be Told Your contribution supports independent journalism Please take a moment to consider this. Now, more than ever, people are reading Geller Report for news they won't get anywhere else. But advertising revenues have all but disappeared. Google Adsense is the online advertising monopoly and they have banned us. Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter have blocked and shadow-banned our accounts. But we won't put up a paywall. Because never has the free world needed independent journalism more. Everyone who reads our reporting knows the Geller Report covers the news the media won't. We cannot do our ground-breaking report without your support. We must continue to report on the global jihad and the left's war on freedom. Our readers’ contributions make that possible. Geller Report's independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our work is critical in the fight for freedom and because it is your fight, too. Please contribute to our ground-breaking work here.
Make a monthly commitment to support The Geller Report – choose the option that suits you best. Contribute Monthly - Choose One Subscriber : $18.00 USD - monthly Contributor : $36.00 USD - monthly Patron : $50.00 USD - monthly Silver member : $100.00 USD - monthly Gold member : $250.00 USD - monthly Platinum member : $500.00 USD - monthly
|
If Uganda's President decides to sign what has been dubbed the world's worst anti-gay bill this week, there will be international ructions. But for one of the globe's most prominent gay activists, the decision would have immediate implications. In all likelihood, he would not be allowed back home.
Frank Mugisha, the 32-year-old Ugandan activist who is in London to urge politicians to campaign for the rights of gay people in his country, leads something of a double life. In Uganda, where it is already a crime to be gay and where the President refers to homosexuality as an "abnormality", his LGBT-rights organisation Sexual Minorities Uganda (Smug) operates from a secret location. He is used to being beaten up in supermarkets and thrown in jail. His colleague, the gay activist David Kato, was brutally murdered three years ago.
Outside his country, he has won many plaudits, including the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Award and the Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize for his activism. The Roman Catholic gay activist, who has been in a relationship for seven years, has instigated the first case of its kind against a prominent evangelical pastor in the US who he says whipped up homophobia and helped to effectively criminalise the campaign for gay rights in Uganda (a claim the pastor denies), as well as in Russia and other countries. He is in talks with Russian LGBT activists about them travelling to the US to support his case.
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 $0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.
If this sounds like a lot to rest on one man's shoulders, you would not guess it from meeting Mugisha. Sitting opposite me in a hotel in central London, he speaks carefully, sounding out every syllable. He tells me how he temporarily fled his country in 2008 when officials allegedly tried to blackmail him. He tells me how his partner had to move to the US because of the challenges he faced as a result of dating a high-profile campaigner. He tells me his neighbours in Kampala have tried to "inform" on him to his landlord twice, because of his sexuality.
Does he think he could be killed on account of his activism? "Definitely," he replies, calmly. "I'd be mad not to think that. I've seen what happened and I see what is happening. Even Ugandans ask me: 'How do you dare?' Some people I know can't tell the person next to them they're gay. I take extra precaution with everything I do in life … but I've understood I could face risk at any time."
While the world's eyes are firmly focused on the Russian Sochi Olympics and Putin's "homosexual propaganda" legislation, which bans the promotion of "non-traditional sexual relations" among minors, Mugisha believes there is a link between what is happening there and what is happening in his country. And he is clear who must be held to account. The US-based Centre for Constitutional Rights sued Scott Lively, a Massachusetts-based evangelical and self-professed expert on the "gay movement", in 2012, on behalf of Smug, alleging that his involvement in anti-gay efforts in Uganda constitutes persecution. It is Mugisha who is effectively leading the case.
The pastor, who has written a number of books including Seven Steps to Recruit-Proof Your Child: A Parent's Guide to Protecting Children from Homosexuality, conducted a three-day conference in Uganda in 2009 with other evangelicals intent on exposing the "gay agenda". Scott Lively said he spoke to thousands of church leaders, schools, colleges and parliamentarians, including Uganda's Minister of Ethics and Integrity. In his blog, he warned that the "movement" worked by "propagandizing the children behind the parents' backs." He suggested homosexuals be offered therapy.
"Everything he said was totally not Ugandan," says Mugisha. "[The idea] of a gay agenda, of recruiting people to homosexuality – that language wasn't used in Uganda pre-2009. He made my work very difficult and was conspiring with my legislators, but [to Ugandans] he was like God himself. People were worshipping him as if he was from heaven." Lively has said that his campaign was akin to a "nuclear bomb against the 'gay' agenda in Uganda".
It was months after his visit that the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill was bought before parliament, originally proposing death penalty clauses. Lively told The IoS that the lawsuit against him was a "sham" that represented a "direct assault" on his "freedom of expression". He said he could not be held responsible for Uganda's legislation, and suggested that the country should follow the Russian approach and focus on the protection of children from gay "propaganda".
Yet, despite Lively's attempt to get the case thrown out, a judge ruled last year that the case – filed under the Alien Tort Statute which lets foreign victims of human rights abuse seek redress in US courts – would not be dismissed. It could reach the courts in a year's time.
Mugisha does not think the work of the evangelical movement is limited to Uganda. Lively toured Russia in 2006 and wrote an open letter calling for the country to "criminalise the public advocacy of homosexuality". He made headlines after the legislation came in, saying it was "one of the proudest achievements of [his] career". Human Rights Watch have reportedly said that he gave shape to pre-existing hatred.
For Mugisha, this isn't about headlines. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni refused to sign the controversial bill last month – which was passed by parliament and mandates penalties up to life imprisonment for homosexual acts and criminalises the promotion of homosexuality and of not reporting on gay people – saying he had to review it. But, according to the Human Dignity Trust, Museveni has until 23 February to either sign the bill or not – otherwise it passes by default.
"The situation in Uganda has actually gotten worse since the bill was passed by parliament," Mugisha says. "Ugandan society has become more hostile towards LGBT persons. Smug has registered more than 30 cases of violence and verbal insults and attacks since 20 December. Some Ugandans think the bill is already a law. If someone is rumoured to be gay, there is a high chance they will be attacked. People are reporting homosexuals already."
Mugisha wants Lively to apologise to Uganda and retract his words. Fundamentally, he wants to challenge the notion that homosexuality is an alien concept, imported from the West.
"Most people respect the courts of the land. [If we win,] people will understand some Christians are not preaching the good Gospel. They'll be careful who they listen to when these people come to Africa and preach, and they'll know that homophobia is actually imported, not African."
Does he think they will win? "Yes," he says, smiling. "Someone is going to have to pay for this bill at some point. It might not be now, it may be in 10 years, but they'll be held to account."
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.
At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads.
Subscribe now
|
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Just as Democrats are gaveling in their convention Tuesday, the federal government likely will announce another dubious milestone — $16 trillion in total federal debt.
In an election already focused on domestic issues of jobs, spending and deficits, the $16 trillion number is likely to underscore just how much is at stake in November for both parties, which are offering dramatically different ways to begin to eat away at the deep hole.
Gross federal debt has been flirting with $16 trillion for the past two weeks, and the government ended Thursday $15.991 trillion in debt.
With several debt auctions scheduled for the end of last week, budget analysts think the government probably broached the $16 trillion number on Friday, and it will be reported to the public Tuesday, which, thanks to the Labor Day holiday, is the next business day.
While $16 trillion isn’t a tipping point, it is a stark number that Republicans said will reflect poorly on Mr. Obama, who has overseen the biggest debt explosion in the country’s history.
“This is a grim landmark for the United States,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee. “Yet the president seems strangely unconcerned.”
The Obama campaign didn’t respond to a message seeking comment on the milestone, but, speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” David Axelrod, a top adviser to Mr. Obama, said the president has a “plausible plan” to stabilize the debt, but acknowledged the plan doesn’t actually begin to reduce it.
“You can’t balance the budget in the short term because to do that would be to ratchet down the economy,” he said.
That underscores both sides’ dilemma: Republicans object to tax increases, saying they will stunt a recovery, while Democrats say reducing spending would likewise hurt.
The Congressional Budget Office last month said raising taxes or cutting spending, or both, might indeed send the economy into a recession, though the alternative — putting off fiscal tightening — means things are worse in the long term.
Republicans believe the debt can be used against Mr. Obama. At their convention last week in Tampa, Fla., they posted a giant electronic board that steadily ticked off the debt they said accumulated every moment from the time they gaveled into session Monday afternoon until they ended the convention late Thursday.
But debt jumps — and occasionally falls — in much more sporadic fashion, as bonds are regularly being auctioned off and sold back.
The biggest one-day boost in history came on Aug. 2, 2011, just after Congress and the president agreed to raise the debt limit, unleashing months of pent-up borrowing.
Democrats argue that neither side has clean hands — though debt grew less under President Clinton than either Mr. Obama or President George W. Bush.
Gross debt stood at $4.188 trillion when Mr. Clinton took office in 1993 and grew to $5.728 trillion when he turned the White House over to Mr. Bush, who added $4.899 trillion in his eight years in office, to reach $10.627 trillion on Jan. 20, 2009, when Mr. Obama took over. The country has already notched another $5.364 trillion during his term.
Of the total public debt, about 30 percent is intragovernmental holdings such as money borrowed from Social Security’s trust fund. The debt held by the public, which many economists say is the best measure of the country’s true burden, accounts for the rest, standing at $11.214 trillion in the latest Treasury figures last week.
Last week, the Republican vice presidential nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan, used his acceptance speech to needle Mr. Obama for failing to heed the recommendations of the Bowles-Simpson commission, which proposed ways to reduce trillions of dollars of debt.
“How did the president respond? By doing nothing — nothing except to dodge and demagogue the issue. So here we are, $16 trillion in debt, and still he does nothing,” Mr. Ryan said.
However, Mr. Ryan himself served on the commission and voted against the final plan, helping scuttle it. The final report won 11 votes from among the 18 members — three shy of the 14 votes needed to issue a favorable recommendation.
Top Democrats, who controlled both chambers of Congress at the time, promised to bring their report to the floor if it had won the 14 votes.
Mr. Ryan and two other House Republicans voted against the deal, as did one Senate Democrat, two House Democrats and a key labor union ally of Mr. Obama’s. Together, they ensured the deal’s doom.
Mr. Axelrod said it was disingenuous of Mr. Ryan to complain about a report he opposed. But Mr. Axelrod also said Mr. Obama didn’t ignore the Bowles-Simpson report, but rather modeled his own budget plans on it.
“Paul Ryan stood on that platform and he looked up at that deficit, at that debt clock, and he made no mention of the fact that he voted for every single one of the policies in the last decade that are at the root of the explosion of the debt — two unpaid wars and unpaid tax cuts and unpaid Medicare prescription drug program,” Mr. Axelrod said. “They have no standing to talk about deficits and their plans today would explode them in the future.”
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.
|
Some 2,000 people attended a support rally Thursday evening at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv calling for the legalization of cannabis.
Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter
The rally was organized ahead of a discussion at the Knesset next week on a bill proposal by MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud) to put an end for difficulties faced by patients who use medical cannabis.
The Knesset will hold a discussion on another bill proposal by MK Tamar Zandberg, to stop prosecution of marijuana smokers, in a few weeks.
Related stories:
Demonstrators marched from Habima Square to Rabin Square calling "the people demand medical cannabis."
Some were carrying massive signs with images of joints, while others dressed up as cannabis leaves.
(Photo: Gilad Morag)
"It's time to stop this absurd policy of persecution of cannabis users," Zandberg said. "Slowly but surely the truth comes out, and that is that cannabis is neither harmful nor addictive, at least no more than other substances that are completely legal."
"Using cannabis is a part of a non-criminal, normative lifestyle, and a part of regular behavior by working, functioning adults," she added.
(Photo: Gilad Morag)
Zandberg called to change the law. "I expect my friends at the Knesset to look reality in the eye and support my bill proposal that will determine that using and possessing a small amount of cannabis does not constitute as a criminal offense."
"It's time to change this anachronistic law that costs us NIS 700 million a year, and stop prosecuting grass smokers," she added.
"Arguments made by those who oppose us are becoming more and more bizarre."
(Photo: Gilad Morag)
Feiglin said, "at some point in the negotiations with the health system, I realized the reason patients using medical cannabis encounter difficulties is not germane. There are different interest and pressure groups obstructing the issue. Half a year has passed and it's only getting worse... It's a mix of economic interests and the fact some in the health system can't accept something they don't have a patent over."
Shahaf Bendreker, one of the organizers of the rally, said, "the rally is a direct continuation of the effort to support different legislation calling for a change. Our demands make sense, the public is slowly but surely discovering the truth and the change is inevitable, it's only a matter of time."
Attorney Yaniv Peretz presented a drawing of a bomb and a red line, much like that used by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the UN, saying "For 90 years you've been persecuting a poor plant, it's time to put an end to it."
|
Not coincidentally, three-quarters of the nation’s demand for solar comes from residents and companies in California. “There is a real economy — multiple companies, all of which have the chance to be billion-dollar operators,” said Daniel M. Kammen, a professor in the energy and resources group at the University of California, Berkeley. California, he says, is poised to be both the world’s next big solar market and its entrepreneurial center.
The question, Professor Kammen says, is: “How can we make sure it’s not just green elite or green chic, and make it the basis for the economy?”
There also are huge challenges ahead, not the least of which is the continued dominance of fossil fuels. Solar represents less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the $3 trillion global energy market, leading some critics to suggest that the state is getting ahead of itself, as it did during the 1970s.
The optimists say a crucial difference this time is the participation of private-sector investors and innovators and emerging technologies. Eight of more than a dozen of the nation’s companies developing photovoltaic cells are based in California, and seven of those are in Silicon Valley.
Among the companies that academics and entrepreneurs believe could take the industry to a new level is Nanosolar, which recently started making photovoltaic cells in a 200,000-square-foot factory in San Jose. The company said the first 18 months of its capacity has already been booked for sales in Germany.
“They could absolutely transform the market if they make good on even a fraction of their goal for next year,” Professor Kammen said. “They’re not just a new entrant, but one of the biggest producers in the world.”
Many of the California companies are start-ups exploring exotic materials like copper indium gallium selenide, or CIGS, an alternative to the conventional crystalline silicon that is now the dominant technology.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
The newcomers hope that CIGS, while less efficient than silicon, can be made far more cheaply than silicon-based cells. Indeed, the Nanosolar factory looks more like a newspaper plant than a chip-making factory. The CIGS material is sprayed onto giant rolls of aluminum foil and then cut into pieces the size of solar panels.
Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content , updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.
Another example is Integrated Solar, based in Los Angeles, which has developed a low-cost approach to integrating photovoltaic panels directly into the roofs of commercial buildings.
In 2007, 100 megawatts of solar generating capacity was installed in California, about a 50 percent increase over 2006, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group.
That growth rate is likely to increase, in part because of ambitious new projects like the 177-megawatt solar thermal plant that Pacific Gas and Electric said last November it would build in San Luis Obispo.
The plant, which will generate power for more than 120,000 homes beginning in 2010, will be built by Ausra, a Palo Alto start-up backed by the investor Vinod Khosla and his former venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
The industry in California is also helped by state and local governments’ substantial subsidies to stimulate demand. The state has earmarked $3.2 billion to subsidize solar installation, with the goal of putting solar cells on one million rooftops. The state Assembly passed a law to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020, which could spur alternatives like solar.
Additional incentives have come from a small but growing number of municipalities. The city of Berkeley will pay the upfront costs for a resident’s solar installation and recoup the money over 20 years through additional property taxes on a resident’s home. San Francisco is preparing to adopt its own subsidy that would range from $3,000 for a home installation to as much as $10,000 for a business.
The subsidies have prompted a surge in private investment, led by venture capitalists. In 2007, these seed investors put $654 million in 33 solar-related deals in California, up from $253 million in 16 deals in 2006, according to the Cleantech Group, which tracks investments in alternative energy. California received roughly half of all solar power venture investments made in 2007 in the United States.
“We’re just starting to see successful companies come out through the other end of that process,” said Nancy C. Floyd, managing director at Nth Power, a venture capital firm that focuses on alternative energy. “And through innovation and volume, prices are coming down.”
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
Whether any of this investment pays off depends, as it did in previous eras, on reaching the point at which solar cells produce electricity as inexpensively as fossil fuels. The cost of solar energy is projected to fall steeply as cheaper new technology reaches economies of scale. Optimists believe that some regions in California could reach that point in half a decade.
At present, solar power is three to five times as expensive as coal, depending on the technology used, said Dan Reicher, director for climate change and energy initiatives at Google.org, the philanthropic division of the Internet company. Among its investments, Google says, is $10 million in financing for eSolar, a company in Pasadena that builds systems that concentrate sunlight from reflecting mirrors.
“We’re at the dawn of a revolution that could be as powerful as the Internet revolution,” Mr. Reicher said. The problem is, he said, “renewable energy simply costs too much.”
At a conference of alternative energy companies in San Francisco last month, to discuss how to encourage the industry’s growth, Mr. Brown, the former governor, joked that if the participants wanted to make real headway selling alternative energy, they should try not to come off as flaky. “Don’t get too far ahead of yourselves,” said Mr. Brown, now the state’s attorney general. “You will be stigmatized. Don’t use too many big words and make it all sound like yesterday.”
|
“Their intended benefits have not justified the tragic consequences, but converting these highways into human-scaled streets … “
The Congress for New Urbanism’s 2017 Freeways without Futures report names and shames 10 U.S. urban highways that represent a “chance to remove a blight from the physical, economic, and environmental health of urban communities.”
“Their intended benefits have not justified the tragic consequences, but converting these highways into human-scaled streets offers a chance to begin repairing the damage,” the report reads. In other words, these highways should come out and be replaced by surface streets that better serve the adjacent communities.
And I-70 through Denver made the list.
This would be the same stretch of road where the Federal Highway Administration just granted approval to the Colorado Department of Transportation for a $1.2 billion expansion that’s been more than a decade in the making. Opponents are trying to figure out their next steps, but they don’t plan to accept the record of decision quietly.
The arguments against I-70 that appear in the report will be familiar to anyone who has been following the ongoing debate about the expansion, which will require the destruction of 56 homes and 18 businesses in Elyria-Swansea. Namely, it exacerbates the historic injustice and disproportionate economic and social impact of building the highway through low-income, minority neighborhoods in the first place.
The report endorses the proposal to turn I-70 into a boulevard.
“A group called Unite North Metro Denver has a better proposal: Reroute interstate traffic to the north, and redesign I-70 as a bike- and pedestrian-friendly boulevard. Such a plan would cut noise and air pollution while bringing new investment opportunity to neglected neighborhoods. Furthermore, the boulevard would cost less, open up developable land, and reunite areas that have been blighted by the highway.”
CDOT Executive Director Shailen Bhatt has said that plan would put enormous truck traffic onto city streets because of all the businesses that located along the I-70 corridor. It’s been a non-starter with CDOT.
The Congress for New Urbanism’s goal is to “help create vibrant and walkable cities, towns, and neighborhoods where people have diverse choices for how they live, work, shop, and get around.”
You can read the entire report and see the rest of the list here.
The report notes that under President Barack Obama’s Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, support for removing highways from urban areas has gained momentum. However, the record of decision that gives a green light to the I-70 expansion was issued on Foxx’s last day in office, and it seems even less likely that a Donald Trump administration would frown on highway expansion.
|
Image caption Cambodia's first Fashion Week has seen shows across Phnom Penh
If there were a prize for the most stylish man in Cambodia, Eric Raisina would be among the favourites.
He is dressed all in black, apart from two startling flashes of colour at his neck and feet - provided by one of his own silk scarves and a pair of vintage, multi-coloured baseball shoes.
This combination of casual elegance with a touch of the dramatic is very Eric Raisina. He applies a similar approach to the clothes he designs for women at his atelier in Siem Reap, in central Cambodia.
From a distance, a Raisina dress may give the impression of classical simplicity.
But closer up, eye-catching details become apparent. It may be made of layers of fringed silk, or fabric specially-treated to produce a feather-like effect.
The designer was born in Madagascar, and has worked with some of the leading French fashion houses, including Christian Lacroix and Yves Saint Laurent.
But for the past decade he has been based in Cambodia, and now says he considers himself an "ambassador" for the fashion industry that is slowly beginning to emerge here.
Raisina has shown his clothes on some of the leading runways in the world, and he says that has helped to show off the potential for fashion design to flourish in Cambodia.
"People realise that every piece I have on the runway is made by Cambodian people in my workshop in Siem Reap. And they are quite impressed. So it's very important to be somewhere - like New York Fashion Week, London Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week - and represent what Cambodian people can do."
Iconic locations
Now, for the first time, Cambodia is enjoying a Fashion Week of its own. There are shows and special events across Phnom Penh, with designers coming from as far away as the United States and New Zealand.
What it lacks in really big names it makes up for in its imaginative use of venues.
Eric Raisina's opening show may have been held in the somewhat prosaic surroundings of a newly-built conference centre, but other events are being held in iconic, art deco locations like the recently-restored Phnom Penh railway station and Central Market.
Image caption Eric Raisina says Fashion Week will serve as a "dream and inspiration" for budding designers
"Having the first Fashion Week here is very exciting, very special," says Raisina.
"As the country is booming and developing, fashion doesn't exist by itself. It goes with the lifestyle, it goes with the arts scene. In just a few years, many things have happened in the country and the city.
"So that helps people who are thinking about the future and exploring new ideas of fashion."
While the opening show featured a Cambodian-based designer from Madagascar, the closing event will highlight a Cambodian-born designer now based in the United States.
Remy Hou draws much of his clientele from the biggest names of the entertainment industry. Singers John Legend, Katy Perry and Justin Bieber have all worn his clothes. Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr is also a fan.
Quite an achievement for a man who arrived in the US as a refugee in 1990.
But while there are Cambodian-based foreigners and overseas-based Cambodians, it is striking that there are no purely local designers involved in Fashion Week.
One well-known Phnom Penh boutique that distributes its clothes overseas was due to show, but pulled out.
Image caption Top model agent Sapor Rendall says attitudes have been changing rapidly in the country
That indicates there is still a gap between the consumption of fashion and the ability to produce it here.
Hundreds of thousands of Cambodians may work in garment factories - but the designs they make for the likes of Gap, Levi's and H&M all originate in other countries.
There is no clear path from working a sewing machine on a production line to creating original clothing.
That may be changing. The local branch of the Singapore-based Raffles International College now offers a design course for budding couturiers.
And increasing local interest in fashion means there may be a hungry clientele for the first graduates.
Cambodia's leading model agent, Sapor Rendall, says attitudes have been changing rapidly in recent years as the country has become more accessible and prosperous.
"There's a lot of influence coming from neighbouring countries, or from people who've been overseas and seen how other people dress. Television, newspapers and magazines also have an influence."
Fashion Week itself may play a part in changing perceptions still further. Eric Raisina says it will serve as a "dream and inspiration" for budding designers.
Perhaps a future edition of the event will feature a runway show from a designer who started off on a garment factory production line. Stranger things have happened - just ask Eric Raisina or Remy Hou.
|
WATCH: MVP Malcolm Smith Interrupted By Man Calling For 9/11 Probe
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/02/02/mvp-malcolm-smith-interrupted-by-man-calling-for-911-probe/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNQlRseW2NA
The man said: “Investigate 9/11. 9/11 was perpetrated by people within our own government.”
Winning Seahawks coach Pete Carroll also questions 9/11. As do some old-timers, like 5-time NFL Pro Bowl center Mark Stepnoski (Dallas Cowboys and Houston Oilers) and former NFL running back Bill Enyart (Buffalo Bills and Oakland Raiders).
As well as Rashard Mendenhall, former running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
http://instagram.com/p/j8IguYvRPU/
9/11 Truther: How I sneaked into Super Bowl XLVIII -- and hijacked the postgame show
http://www.nj.com/super-bowl/index.ssf/2014/02/super_bowl_2014_911_truther_says_he_snuck_into_metlefe_stadium.html
911 conspiracy theorist interrupts Super Bowl MVPs press conference
http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2014/2/2/5372666/911-conspiracy-theorist-truther-super-bowl-2014
A 9/11 Truther Crashed Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith's Press Conference (VIDEO)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/02/malcolm-smith-911-truther-interview-video_n_4714933.html
9/11 truther arrested after interrupting Super Bowl news conference
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/03/911-truther-arrested-after-interrupting-super-bowl-news-conference/
Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith interrupted by 9/11 truther
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24428289/super-bowl-mvp-malcolm-smith-interrupted-by-911-truther
Seahawks Coach Peppered 4-Star General With 9/11 'Conspiracy' Questions
http://911blogger.com/news/2013-07-22/seahawks-coach-peppered-4-star-general-911-conspiracy-questions
Obama and Bush Warn Not To Challenge The Official 9/11 Story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05uEiVEsh0A
Original video I posted: http://youtu.be/o5VRgP0jtH0
Video taken down after almost 1,500,000 views: http://youtu.be/w6oiy11-eWc
(copyright claim by christina taylor)
Another video, full screen, to pass around:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNQlRseW2NA
The Most Boring Superbowl Ever … Until 9/11 Truth Proponent Interrupts MVP Interview
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2014/02/boring-superbowl-ever-911-truth-proponent-interrupts-mvp-interview.html#comments
FOREIGN MEDIA: 9/11 truther Matthew Mills gatecrashes Super Bowl post-game interview
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/911-truther-matthew-mills-gatecrashes-super-bowl-postgame-interview-20140204-31ydu.html
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/super-bowl-xlviii-911-truth-3107592
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/virals/10614490/The-Linkdrop-911-conspiracy-theorist-crashes-press-conference.html
|
Illustration by Brendan Monroe
The first tumour was a small melanoma on the left side of attorney Mark Gorman's neck. Doctors removed it, and assured him that the cancer was gone.
But eight years later, in 1998, a physician felt Gorman's abdomen during a routine physical examination, arched an eyebrow, and asked if he had become a heavy drinker. The melanoma had spread to Gorman's liver, seeding an inoperable beast of a tumour that wrapped around the inferior vena cava carrying blood to his heart.
People with advanced melanoma typically live for just six to ten months after diagnosis. But Gorman, then 49, had little patience for the doctors advising him to get his affairs in order. When his sister told him about a drug called interleukin-2 (IL-2) that was being used together with chemotherapy against melanoma at a hospital in Colorado, he travelled from his home in Silver Spring, Maryland, to give it a try.
IL-2 is a protein produced by white blood cells called T cells during an immune response. Taking high doses of it sends T cells into overdrive, making them more likely to recognize and attack cancer cells. Gorman was treated, and remains cancer-free 15 years later. “Some doctors say my immune system is really smart,” he says. “I just know I'm lucky.”
The drug that saved Gorman's life was the first treatment approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to fire up the immune system's response to cancer — a technique known as immunotherapy. After that 1992 approval, researchers and pharmaceutical companies spent years trying to develop new immunotherapies that could produce success stories like Gorman's. But those attempts failed to live up to their promise in the clinic, leading to decades of frustration.
Listen Heidi Ledford talks about cancer treatments that use the body’s own immune system You may need a more recent browser or to install the latest version of the Adobe Flash Plugin.
Now the tide seems to be turning. Clinical-trial successes in the past five years suggest that a new generation of approaches has potential against several forms of cancer that resist conventional treatments. Some analysts predict that in the next ten years, immunotherapies will be used for 60% of people with advanced cancer, and will comprise a US$35-billion market. “It is kind of crazy,” says Cary Pfeffer, chief executive of Jounce Therapeutics, a company specializing in cancer immunotherapy in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “This field has become so crowded. It's frenzied.”
But the sobering experience with earlier drugs has made many researchers and clinicians cautious. Despite its potential for miracles, IL-2 produces complete remission in only around 6% of people with melanoma. The treatment kills as many as 2% of recipients. Researchers are now racing to find ways to boost the number of patients who respond to immunotherapy and to reduce the dangerous side effects. “The good news — and the bad news — is that the immune system is incredibly powerful,” says Robert Tepper, chief medical officer at Jounce.
Checkmate
Cancer immunotherapy was born in 1891, when a New York surgeon named William Coley began injecting bacteria into patients' tumours in the hope of triggering an immune response to the infection that would also attack the tumour. Physicians before him had noted mysterious and rare cancer remissions following infections, and Coley was eager to harness that therapeutic power.
It would not be so simple. Tumours wield many defences against the immune system's most powerful cancer-fighting weapon: T cells that hunt out and eliminate problem cells. Cancer cells disguise themselves and make it difficult for T cells to find them. Tumours also fend off immune attack by expressing proteins that suppress T cells in the surrounding environment.
For decades, researchers chased the possibility of a vaccine that would alert the immune system to cancer cells. But those efforts have largely failed: the only FDA-approved therapeutic cancer vaccine is a complicated and costly therapy for prostate cancer. Whether it provides a significant benefit to patients is a matter of debate.
The field turned a corner in 2011, when the FDA approved a new kind of immunotherapeutic drug. Yervoy (ipilimumab) binds to and blocks a 'checkpoint' protein called CTLA-4, which normally acts as a brake on the immune system by preventing T-cell activation. Checkpoint proteins keep the cells in check so that they do not attack normal tissue. When Yervoy releases the brake, T cells are free to destroy tumours.
Like IL-2, Yervoy can bring long-lasting responses. Some participants in the original trials have been in remission for 13 years, says James Allison, a cancer immunologist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. But those clinical cures occur in just a small fraction — about 8% — of patients. And although Yervoy can rouse T cells to battle against cancer, sometimes the cells attack healthy tissue, too. Of the 540 people who took Yervoy in the largest trial, up to 15% experienced serious side effects and seven died of immune-related events. Some oncologists prefer to steer clear of the drug, says Suzanne Topalian, a melanoma researcher at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.
Still, the promising aspects of Yervoy established the potential of checkpoint inhibitors — drugs that block checkpoint proteins — and that has prompted researchers to look at other potential target proteins. By the time Yervoy was approved, some investigators had begun to focus on PD-1, a checkpoint protein that some cancers use to deactivate the phalanx of T cells that surrounds the tumour.
Because PD-1 interacts directly with cancer cells, unlike CTLA-4, its inhibitors have the potential to be more potent and less toxic. Early clinical trials suggest that this is the case. A leading PD-1 inhibitor — nivolumab, made by New York's Bristol-Myers Squibb — shrinks tumours in 28% of people with advanced melanoma. The FDA is expected to issue a decision on whether to approve it by early 2015, if not sooner.
Hopes are high that, although there are some side effects, the new drugs will be less toxic than Yervoy. Some people notice no problems at all. “Many patients say, 'Doc, are you even giving me anything?'” says Antoni Ribas, a melanoma specialist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who has participated in trials of PD-1 inhibitors. “Then the tumours start disappearing, and they know.”
Researchers want to push immunotherapies even further. “We wish response rates were higher than what we currently have,” says Michael Postow, an oncologist and cancer researcher at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Inhibitors of other checkpoint proteins are trickling into clinical testing and clinicians may one day match patients with the inhibitors most likely to act on the proteins expressed by their own cancer cells.
For other patients, the challenge may be in attracting T cells to the tumour in the first place. PD-1 inhibitors do not accomplish this — they simply remove the shackles from T cells already amassed at the tumour's edge, says Daniel Chen, head of immunotherapy development at Genentech in South San Francisco, California, a subsidiary of the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche. “Some patients just seem to have no existing immune response to start with,” he adds. “So then we need to add something that will generate that response.”
Better together
The key to attracting T cells is to create an 'inflamed' tumour using combinations of therapies, says Postow. Yervoy and PD-1 inhibitors are already in clinical trials with each other and a range of other treatments intended to alert T cells to the cancer. Radiation, for example, breaks open cancer cells and releases antigens, molecules that can trigger immune responses. In another approach, researchers alert a patient's immune system with experimental cancer vaccines containing proteins that are overexpressed by tumour cells. “The future is clearly combination therapy,” says Anthony Marucci, chief executive of Celldex Therapeutics in Hampton, New Jersey.
“The good news — and the bad news — is that the immune system is incredibly powerful.”
Eventually, checkpoint inhibitors could also be combined with a form of immunotherapy called adoptive T-cell transfer. This is a personalized treatment in which physicians isolate T cells from patients and select those that react to cancer. They then multiply the T cells and stimulate them with molecules such as IL-2 before injecting them back into the bloodstream. Trials of this method led by tumour immunologist Steven Rosenberg at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, have shrunk tumours in more than half of people with advanced melanoma receiving the treatment, with 20% experiencing complete remission.
A newer form of T-cell transfer promises to broaden its reach to other cancers, by engineering extracted T cells to express an artificial tumour-targeting receptor called a chimaeric antigen receptor (see 'Immune boost'). A trial using T cells engineered to target B cells wiped out cancer in 14 of 16 people with acute leukaemia (M. L. Davila et al. Sci. Transl. Med. 6, 224ra25; 2014).
But technical challenges have limited the spread of T-cell transfer therapies. Only a handful of academic medical centres have performed the procedure so far. “After our initial results, we were besieged with melanoma patients,” says Rosenberg. “We couldn't possibly treat all the patients sent to us.”
Since those early days, researchers have simplified and standardized protocols. That, plus the remarkable results in leukaemia, has lured industry investors. Novartis, based in Basel, Switzerland, has bought a facility in New Jersey to process T cells extracted from patients around the United States. The facility will be key to the company's plans to expand its clinical trials to more sites this year. Smaller firms are following suit. In early 2015, Kite Pharmaceuticals in Santa Monica, California, hopes to launch a multicentre trial of adoptive T-cell transfer in a form of lymphoma that kills around 37% of patients within five years of diagnosis.
The true target
Another big challenge for adoptive T-cell transfer is to broaden its reach by finding new molecular targets that will guide T cells to specific tumour types while sparing healthy cells. The approach works well in leukaemia and other cancers that affect B cells, another class of white blood cell, because researchers can engineer T cells to target a protein called CD19, which is found only on B cells. Although the treatment wipes out healthy B cells in addition to the cancerous ones, patients can tolerate that side effect relatively easily. But finding a similar target for solid tumours, which are less uniform than liquid tumours, has been difficult. “It's a major limiting step,” says Ribas. “We're all excited about CD19, but it's not clear what the next target will be.”
Researchers are mining growing databases of gene expression to find the best candidates. But firing up immune responses to specific proteins can be dangerous: a few years ago, four patients died in trials of T cells engineered to attack cells expressing a protein called MAGE-A3. This protein is expressed only in embryos and in some cancer cells in adults, so it seemed an ideal target. But researchers later learned that the T cells attacked similar proteins present in the heart and brain. “These T cells are professional killers,” says Arie Belldegrun, chief executive at Kite. “If their target is expressed even in minute quantities on normal cells, these super killers are going to find those cells and destroy them.”
In response to the deaths, ImmunoCore, an immunotherapy company based in Abingdon, UK, developed new bioinformatic methods to search for signs that any possible T-cell target could be expressed in normal tissue. The company also began to do its initial safety testing in three-dimensional cell cultures that better reflected the cells' natural environment. This approach has led to a collection of more than 20 potential targets for various cancers. Michel Sadelain, a cancer geneticist at Memorial Sloan Kettering, hopes to engineer T cells that target two proteins, both of which would have to be expressed on a cell for the T cells to destroy it. The idea, he says, is that the chance that a healthy cell will have both targets on its surface will be slim.
Finding more targets could help immunotherapy to reach more types of cancer. So far, researchers have focused on melanoma and kidney cancer because they responded best to immunotherapies in early trials, and are thought to be particularly visible to the immune system.
Rosenberg says he is working on 11 clinical trials testing adoptive T-cell therapies against a variety of cancers, including a particularly lethal and rare form called mesothelioma. The door to much wider applications for cancer immunotherapies opened in 2012, when results showed that the checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab shrank tumours in 18% of people with certain types of advanced lung cancer (S. L. Topalian et al. N. Engl. J. Med. 366, 2443–2454; 2012). Because lung cancer is one of the world's most prevalent forms of cancer, the results raised hopes that immunotherapy could make a sizeable dent in cancer deaths. “This was a cancer that we thought was not immunogenic,” says Ribas, who notes that both Yervoy and IL-2 failed to shrink lung-cancer tumours. “We thought immunotherapy wouldn't have a chance.”
Some cancers, including liver cancer, may still pose a challenge to immunotherapy approaches, says Lisa Butterfield, a cancer researcher at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. The liver processes pathogens and antigens in the blood, and the immune system is carefully controlled there to avoid prompting reactions that would target an individual's normal cells. Breast, colorectal, pancreatic and ovarian cancers are also particularly adept at suppressing immune cells. Combination therapies may provide a way around these limitations, she says.
Combination therapies may also be the salvation of the cancer-vaccine concept. Although the vaccines tested thus far have fared poorly, they may work synergistically with other immunotherapies, says Willem Overwijk, a cancer researcher at MD Anderson.
After so many years of disappointing results, the growing excitement over immunotherapy has surprised many cancer researchers and families touched by the disease. Since his own remarkable recovery, Gorman has mourned again and again as friends he made at melanoma support groups succumbed. Then, a few years ago, he had a new experience: a close friend was given Yervoy, and went into full remission.
As for his own melanoma, Gorman goes for scans to look for new tumours every two years. In February, he noted that it might be time to schedule his next set of scans. But he wasn't sure — he had stopped fearing his cancer's return years ago. “I'm a cool cucumber now,” he says. “My immune system has it under control.”
|
“Kashmiri Pandits?” he exclaimed, exasperated. “How is my daughter’s marriage going to do anything about Kashmiri Pandits? For the past three years, Modiji is running the country. Tell him to do something about the Kashmiri Pandits. Why are you telling me about it?”
The speaker is a resident of a wealthy neighbourhood in Ghaziabad, a part of the National Capital Region of India. You need to get past an iron gate, flanked by palm trees, a well-manicured lawn and three vehicles parked in the driveway to enter his large drawing room. It is furnished with a cream-coloured sofa placed against a stone wall. On it sits a white-haired, elderly man – let’s call him Arun Singh for now, since he doesn’t want to be identified by his actual name – wearing sweatpants and a black cardigan, speaking softly about the events of Friday. It is an unusually opulent setting for any sort of chaos, much less being besieged by a mob.
On Friday, Singh’s daughter was to get married to a Muslim man. On cue, hundreds of protestors descended upon the house, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party Ghaziabad president Ajay Sharma. “Bride’s family is under pressure and she is also being forced to adopt Islam,” Sharma told the Hindustan Times. “It is a case of love jihad and we oppose it. They have not taken any permission from the administration for the marriage.”
Two sides
“Love jihad” is a Hindutva conspiracy theory that claims that Muslim men trick Hindu women into falling in love with them with the aim of converting them to Islam. The theory once existed on the fringes of India’s political consciousness. But recently, it has been taken up by the higher judiciary – even the Supreme Court – and on Friday entered into a posh neighbourhood of a Delhi suburb.
Yet, there is the other side: Arun Singh. He stood up to the Hindutva politicians threatening violence to ensure that his daughter married the man she loved.
Two (and a mob) to tango
Singh’s daughter and his now son-in-law met in college. “It wasn’t love at first sight like they show in the movies,” Singh said with a smile. “They knew each other for a long time. Both are highly qualified. They took this decision after years of thinking.”
Singh is a chartered accountant, businessman and the son of an Indian Administrative Service officer. His son-in-law’s father is a professor at a Delhi college. Both parents approve of the match.
The couple and even their families being on board, though, was not enough.
“Two days before the wedding, I started getting calls,” said Singh. The calls were from Hindutva groups such as the Bajrang Dal, who were aghast at this inter-religious marriage.
On Friday, BJP and other Hindutva groups gatecrashed the wedding. Protestors tried to force their way into Singh’s Ghaziabad house but a large police contingent kept them out. Protestors then blocked a major road just outside, in order to protest the inter-faith marriage.
‘Show me the marriage papers’
Singh even tried to reason with the mob outside his house. “I explained to them that this is a court marriage as per the Special Marriage Act,” he said. “All processes have been followed. We have a marriage certificate. There has been no conversion and no love jihad.”
This had little effect on the protestors. “They wanted to do their own politics, that’s all,” said Singh. “I was only a pawn for them. They wanted their limelight.”
He said that his son-in-law was ready to do the pheras, the Hindu marriage ceremony. “But what will we get out of that?” asked Singh. “My daughter has not even changed her surname.”
One person then asked Singh to show him the papers of the marriage. “Tu hai kaun, tujhe main papers kyun dikhaoon?” said Singh, now getting a bit angry. Who are you? Why should I show you the papers?
Push back
Singh notes how the bigotry against inter-faith marriages are spreading. “Earlier this would only happen in small towns and rural areas,” he said. “Now this happened even in this big city, in this rich area.”
But Singh wanted to draw a line. “I wanted to send a message to society with our resistance to these people,” said Singh calmly. He quoted the poem Saare Jahaan se Acchaa: “We have been always told, mazhab naheen sikhaata aapas main bair rakhna [religion doesn’t create enmities]. But now you [the people who wanted to stop the marriage] are creating barriers using religion.”
Even more disconcertingly, one of Singh’s own neighbours was in the mob outside his door that day. “A Mr Ahuja, who lives right behind my house, was there, as a Shiv Sena leader,” he said. “You, my neighbour, are coming here with 10-20 people outside my house. What does it say about you?”
Law facilitating bigotry
In this, the Special Marriage Act came in for special criticism, for having facilitated this mob pressure. “The SMA is a lengthy procedure,” he said. “You need to apply formally in court stating intent to marry. Even provide proof of parental consent. Once this is done, the local government puts out a notice – with our addresses – in the newspapers as well as puts it up in the local court, announcing the marriage and asking for people to come in and file objections.”
Singh suspects that this notice – a necessary part of the Special Marriage Act – could have tipped off Hindutva groups.
Many Indians choose to get married under the Personal Laws that apply to members of each religious group. If they want to get married under a secular law, they must do so according to the provisions of the Special Marriage Act. This involves a civil ceremony, with no religious rituals. Yet, as this example shows, the act has plenty of thorns designed to actually dissuade couples from conducting marriages that are often deemed unacceptable by conservative norms.
Singh, only half jokingly, explains that the process is not dissimilar to a passport application. “The file goes to the local police station and the local intelligence unit,” said Singh. “This means any marriage without parental consent is impossible under the SMA. Police came and asked me about the marriage. Only when I said it was okay, was the file forwarded.”
Singh notes that, ironically, religious marriages such as the Islamic nikah or the Hindu Arya Samaj ceremony are far easier to conduct than getting married under the secular Special Marriage Act. “The law doesn’t let anyone do the right thing,” he said, summing up his experience with the act.
Hindutva view
Singh, however, is satisfied with the local district administration. “I am happy with the way they handled the situation,” he said. “The Additional District Magistrate and top police officials were here constantly.” On Sunday, more than 100 people were booked for rioting, including Ajay Sharma, the Ghaziabad BJP president.
This strong response from the administration has perhaps led to Sharma changing his mind about the marriage. “Someone told us that a Hindu girl is marrying a Muslim boy and that the marriage was being conducted under duress,” he told Scroll.in. “But then I spoke to the girl’s parents and he said that our information was wrong. Now I don’t think it is a case of love jihad. The parents are fine, the girl is fine.”
However, Sharma maintains that he has the right to intervene in such situations in the future. “If there is something wrong happening in society, we need to act. The police can’t do everything.”
|
You bet your ass this is a multi-part series.
For those who don’t know, Andreas Antonopoulos is one of the most well-known – and one of the most well-respected – figures in the cryptocurrency industry. He’s the author of Mastering Bitcoin and The Internet of Money, both great introductions to the brave new world of bitcoin and blockchain technology. Just as important as his knowledge, though, is his passion.
And his passion for bitcoin is unmatched.
Let’s first dive into Mr. Antonopoulos’ relationship with big banks, specifically the big banks of Germany that essentially took his home country hostage. Andreas lived in Greece for most of his childhood, and he sees the Greek debt crisis as a shining example of the failure of central banking.
On the Greek Debt Crisis
Greece is trapped in a monetary cycle where the economy is collapsing. It’s crashed 25 percent, which has never happened in peace-time in any European country, unemployment among under 30 year-olds is 60% and climbing, which is devastating for an entire generation, and, at the current rate, Greece would have to spend 2% of its GDP for the next 30 years just to barely make a dent in this debt. The worst part of this is that this is wrapped in a Calvinist, moralistic tale of bad, lazy tax-avoiding Greeks who don’t pay their debt – and it’s morally wrong to not pay your debt. My dad paid his taxes his whole life. He then invested in a private retirement fund that then got nationalized and cut in half, through no fault of his own. This is not a moral failing or character flaw, because you can’t assign character flaws to an entire nation. That’s a somewhat overbroad generalization. You might be accused of… let’s say prejudice when you apply that. To not only condemn an entire people, but then condemn an entire generation for the bad choices of a few select people in government who are quite comfortably aided and abetted by banks that made an enormous amount of profit on all of this, while at the same time those banks have received trillions of dollars in interest-free bail-outs with no strings attached and complete forgiveness… Nobody’s moralizing against them. That, I think, is fundamentally unfair.
And, of course, he goes on to mention bitcoin as a possible solution for a small minority of Greek people: When the government fails its citizens by engaging in poor economic policies and decision-making, the average citizen can choose to opt out. As long as they have the know-how, they can convert their money from fiat to bitcoin and still have enough to move out of the country.
That’s the beauty of bitcoin. That’s the basis for so much of Andreas’ passion for blockchain-based cryptocurrencies.
And, as I said before, that passion is unmatched. It’s palpable. The next quote is the single most captivating thing I’ve ever heard regarding bitcoin.
Bitcoin: The Monument to Trust and Security
On the surface it’s a currency. It’s a payment system. And if you just see the surface, you’re missing everything. Because underneath there’s this enormous rich depth of complexity… Distributed systems like bitcoin are systems where tens of thousands of nodes each following a very well-defined simple set of consensus rules come together, interacting with a vast complex society of human incentives and actions to produce this enormously complex secured trust platform, which exhibits all of the characteristics of real applied game theory on a massive scale never seen before. The emergence of robust trust backed by thermodynamic guarantees – in the case of “proof-of-work”—to create the most secure system we’ve ever built on this planet. We take the concept of proof-of-work, which has existed for millennia; proof-of-work is evident when you look at our societies. The pyramids of Giza are proof-of-work.
What they say is, ‘Behold a civilization that can marshal tens of millions of dollars worth of value, hundreds of thousands of slaves, over tens of years, to produce a monument that cannot be replicated unless you put in an equal amount of work.’
The great castles of medieval Europe. All of these things – the Great Wall of China – are proof-of-work artifacts. They are monuments of civilizations that say, ‘Here is something you can only build through a massive expenditure of resources, and that stands as evidence of our might.’ Bitcoin is the first planetary-scale monument of proof-of-work, and in its footsteps, others will follow. It creates this edifice, this monument, and it’s a monument to security. It’s a monument to trust on a network scale. Once you start understanding the complexities of the interaction of game theory, human motivation, incentives, and markets, you realize how deep this system is. We’ve never seen free markets operate in the way they do in things like bitcoin, or any of the cryptocurrencies. Truly unfettered free markets that provide complete liquidity and flexibility on a global scale have never happened before. Payment systems that span the globe without borders or intermediaries have never happened before. We are standing in the front row of history while creating something that will change human society. And if you learn the skills that allow you to understand these simply systems that produce this enormous complexity, these skills will serve you well.
The Mathematical Currency
There are almost 200 currencies of the world, but there’s only one international currency. There are almost 200 currencies controlled by central banks and governments, but there is only one mathematical currency today, and that is bitcoin. We are going to build more of them. Cryptographic currencies are going to be a mainstay of our financial future. They are going to be a part of the future of this planet because they have been invented. It’s as simple as that. You cannot un-invent this technology. You cannot turn this omelette back into eggs.
Ignore the Price
Ignore the price… If we mess up the money, we’ll just reboot another currency. The technology that makes it possible cannot be un-invented.
Like this: Like Loading...
|
A Centerville man faces felony charges after leading authorities on a dangerous high-speed chase.See the video here.The Feb. 23 chase lasted about 25 minutes and went through several neighborhoods.Mitchell Rex Irwin, 51, was driving a maroon Ford Ranger through Centerville last Sunday morning when Officer Tyson Howard tried to pull him over.At one point during the chase, Irwin served his truck through someone's front yard, according to police. Minutes later he made his way back out to a main street, driving through business parking lots.As seen in video of the chase, Irwin also swerved toward a police car. He then led officers through winding gravel roads reaching speeds of 80 mph before veering off into a ditch.From there, he took off through two more residential yards, takes a sharp turn on a gravel road and lands in the ditch again.Five minutes later, Irwin took another sharp turn, landing in a ditch a third time, ending a nearly 30-minute chase.Irwin is facing numerous felony charges including eluding police and several other traffic violations.According to the Daily Iowegian, several hours after the chase ended, police were able to arrest Irwin by tracing the vehicle registration of his car.He has since been released from jail.
A Centerville man faces felony charges after leading authorities on a dangerous high-speed chase.
See the video here.
The Feb. 23 chase lasted about 25 minutes and went through several neighborhoods.
Mitchell Rex Irwin, 51, was driving a maroon Ford Ranger through Centerville last Sunday morning when Officer Tyson Howard tried to pull him over.
At one point during the chase, Irwin served his truck through someone's front yard, according to police. Minutes later he made his way back out to a main street, driving through business parking lots.
Advertisement
As seen in video of the chase, Irwin also swerved toward a police car. He then led officers through winding gravel roads reaching speeds of 80 mph before veering off into a ditch.
From there, he took off through two more residential yards, takes a sharp turn on a gravel road and lands in the ditch again.
Five minutes later, Irwin took another sharp turn, landing in a ditch a third time, ending a nearly 30-minute chase.
Irwin is facing numerous felony charges including eluding police and several other traffic violations.
According to the Daily Iowegian, several hours after the chase ended, police were able to arrest Irwin by tracing the vehicle registration of his car.
He has since been released from jail.
AlertMe
|
THE PRIDE #1-6
Written by Joe Glass
Art by Gavin Mitchell, Kris Carter, Hector Barros, Nathan Ashworth, J.D. Faith, Maxime Garbarini, and more
Published by Queer Comix
Available now on Comixology.com
Tired of super-hero teams with 6 white guys, a single woman, a Black dude, and MAYBE a lesbian? Over subtext driving your representation on the four-color page? Time to up the ante on queer comics and check out The Pride.
It’s no secret I want to see more LGBTA content in today’s comic market — and specifically in super-hero comics. I grew up on a steady diet of capes and cowls, and it never ceases to touch me deeply when one of them, hero or villain, reflects back my experience as a gay man, as an outsider to the overriding sexual culture that permeates media still today. It has become so frustrating, in fact, that I feel compelled to boycott spending on an entire company’s line until a self-described LGBTA comic lead is presented. And I’m not holding my breath, sadly.
But when I pick up a book like The Pride, or Secret Six, or Midnighter, or Catwoman, I get something powerful that resonates like heroes did to me as a child. It’s more than recognition, more than celebration. It’s seeing my value as a human being amplified on the page. That’s damn important stuff to me. And I’m not alone.
The Pride #1-6 begins to tell a story about the diversity of the LGBTA community, and it, like all media, has a way to go to represent it most fully. But it is a valiant beginning of what I hope will be a long tenure of publishing some fun characters that have the potential to touch readers who need the validation it provides. Writer Joe Glass has assembled a group of characters that still feel dominated by gay and white cultural concerns, but strive to expand their ranks like any other forward thinking queer organization would.
Depicting a brand new super-hero team founded on the idea that positive queer representation will lead to more acceptance, Glass is delivering a pretty straightforward narrative that we see play out in the media and our own discussions as comic readers fairly frequently. But it’s in the smaller moments throughout the six-issue mini-series (and accompanying three-issue title, The Pride Adventures) that starts to break the mold for the first all-LGBTA hero team. Romance developing without overly sexualizing the interactions is something we’ve only recently seen in comics, but there are a few other sophisticated developments that pricked up my ears as I was reading.
The introduction of trans character Angel and the subsequent revelation of her sexuality is a nice nod to the complications and assumptions that come along with mixing sex assignment, gender performance, and orientation. But the storyline involving Bear and his son, Cub, that dominates the latter half of the series is the one that touched me the most. It is very rare to see stories about men who come out later in life, post-marriage, post-children, and even more rare to see one with Bear’s circumstances. Both he and his loving son (straight, but still ultimately a member of the Pride) are greatly unmined territory for a plethora of stories that I hope get followed up on in later books.
While the art on the series starts out a little rough in early issues with Gavin Mitchell’s pencils and inks, The Pride blossoms with the introduction of artists Hector Barros (issue #4 pencils, issue #6 inks), JD Faith (issue #5 pencils), and Maxime Garbarini (issue #6 pencils). Barros in particular adds a lush, textural vibe to the issue’s focus on Bear, giving both a ferocious and highly sexualizing rendering to almost all of the characters. The action is fast and compelling, with panel construction making the most of moving the readers’ eyes across the page.
Garbarini’s illustrations of the team in issue #6 is much more standard super-hero fare, but picks up on that “Crisis of Two Worlds” vibe in the Pride’s standoff against the prevailing super-hero team of their universe. His work is most eloquent, however, in the book’s final scenes, depicting perhaps my least favorite character in one of the most powerful moments. It’s a true example of how much of a difference the right artist can make to a scene, and how much that choice makes me want to come back for more.
A fun romp through a new universe is never going to feel as cohesive and grounded as stories told in books we’ve read since childhood, but for building from the ground up (and pinching some of the better tropes of DC and Marvel characterizations), The Pride manages to deliver a lot of enjoyment with a lot of potential to soothe the queer soul. If you’re looking for the kind of old school adventure featuring characters you don’t need to project quite as hard onto to see your own experience — particularly at a time over 30% of the market refuses to do so — this is definitely the book for you.
The Verdict: 7.5/10
|
Minimum wages are a perennially controversial topic in the politics of countries all around the world. And yet despite the debate, virtually all developed countries have a minimum wage either set by law or set quasi-legally through an industry collective bargaining process.
Yet, as British economist Simon Wren-Lewis noted in July, discussion of the minimum wage's natural complement — the maximum wage — is taboo in most circles. But the case for a maximum wage or something very much like it — say, a confiscatory marginal tax rate far too high to raise meaningful revenue — is surprisingly strong.
Paying LeBron
One place to look to understand the implications of the maximum wage is an industry that actually has a maximum wage: professional basketball.
The rules governing the NBA salary structure are extremely complicated, but one feature of them is a limit ("the max") on how big a contract any given player can receive. This is why things like LeBron James' bouts of free agency become such unpredictable events. The market for James' services is not an auction in which he ends up playing for the highest bidder. Instead, all bids are capped at the maximum wage, and every owner with half a brain would gladly pay James (or Kevin Durant or Chris Paul or a handful of other megastars) the maximum salary, so the ultimate decision comes down to non-monetary factors like teammates and title chances.
But basketball is still a business, and the maximum wage has economic ripple effects.
In particular, it serves to significantly advantage the league's middle class of talent. Since the Cleveland Cavaliers didn't need to spend all their available financial resources on James, they had spare cash to bid for the services of lesser (but still skilled!) players. As a result, even though winning in the NBA is typically driven by a handful of dominant stars, even average players are extremely well-compensated. Rookies aside, the league features a ratio of about 20:1 between the highest-paid and worst-paid players, with undistinguished athletes frequently reaping multi-million dollar deals.
The most important lesson, however, is what the maximum salary doesn't do — lead the stars to Go Galt and take their talents to the retirement community.
For starters, the top stars get paid a lot of money! But more than that, it turns out that to be successful at high-level professional basketball requires a certain level of passion for the sport and competitive instinct. Players want to win games and outshine their rivals on the biggest stages. Stars not only play for sub-market wages professionally, but they often play for free for their national team in the Olympics. Top performers like money, but they also take pride in a job well done.
America once had a maximum wage, kind of
The idea of a maximum wage sounds outlandish today. But though no such maximum wage level has ever been embedded in America law, it's worth noting that until relatively recently we had a de facto maximum wage policy in place.
The Second World War pushed the top marginal tax rate up to 90 percent. The Kennedy administration adjusted that down to 70 percent and there it stood until Ronald Reagan's election.
Neither of those was a formal maximum. But they acted as a maximum wage. During the 90 percent top income tax rate, for a firm to put an extra $100 in the pocket of a top executive required them to pay onother $1,000 in salary. Rather than send $900 to Uncle Sam to pay a CFO an extra $100, it makes more sense to give modest raises to five separate middle managers — putting more money in the pockets of your workforce and less in the pockets of the federal government.
And the thing about this high tax policy regime is that it worked pretty well!
The pre-Reagan trend of productivity growth in the American economy was faster than the post-Reagan trend. At the same time, the distribution of the gains from economic growth was more equal pre-Reagan than post-Reagan.
Of course, by the late-1970s the economy had run into trouble. Oil shocks from the Middle East were battering the economy, and their negative impact was exacerbated by poor monetary policy. The resulting "stagflation" quite naturally led to a push for substantial policy change, and substantial policy change is what we got.
Those changes included, among other things, a shift to a new tax policy regime that no longer sought to deter high salaries and promote an egalitarian distribution of market income. The thinking was that more inequality would create better financial incentives and more rapid economic growth. A rising tide would lift all boats, and nobody would miss equality in the midst of broad-based prosperity.
Bad incentives
Over the past 35 years we have gotten the inequality that Reagan promised. What hasn't been forthcoming is the more rapid economic growth.
A maximum wage would definitely help solve inequality: firms would spend less on bidding up the pay for the richest workers and that would free up more resources for middle-class salaries. And it is now a commonplace of progressive discourse to argue that executive compensation growth largely reflects rent-seeking that could be rolled back without impairing managerial talent. But there is actually some reason to believe that a maximum wage could improve growth outcomes and help up bring back some of the higher growth rates experienced before the late 1970s.
The key reason for believing this might be possible comes to us from a paper by economists Benjamin Lockwood, Charles Nathanson, and Glen Weyl. They observe that not all jobs are created equal.
What Lockwood, Nathanson, and Weyl find is that by increasing the financial incentive for top talent to pursue careers in finance and law rather than teaching and research, the Reagan tax reforms reduced overall economic output while increasing the pre-tax share of income earned by top earners. In other words, rather than giving the middle class a smaller slice of a bigger pie and making everyone better off, these reforms gave the rich a larger slice of a smaller pie and made only them better off.
Bringing back the notion of a cap or near-cap on wages, in other words, could make the country more prosperous and make prosperity more broadly shared. A related issue is raised by Facundo Alvaredo, Anthony Atikinson, Thomas Piketty, and Emmanuel Saez who find that lower tax rates have shifted incentives for executives at big companies such that effort is now "diverted to increasing their remuneration at the expense of enterprise growth and employment." In other words, in a high-tax regime executives compete to run the biggest, best company for pride and glory whereas in a low-tax regime they compete to take home the biggest paycheck.
How to do it?
Of course, it's one thing to say that the country should try to cap top-earners' wages and another thing entire to say exactly what a maximum wage policy should look like. The basic reality is that as with a minimum wage, the correct answer needs to be determined empirically. At the moment, there is very little research available on the subject to guide our thinking, and so little has been done in policy terms that there isn't even much empirical information to research.
Another issue is that the precise terms of the maximum wage policy need to be ironed out.
Though it will rankle some, capital gains income will almost certainly have to be excluded from the policy. To do otherwise would create a massive disincentive for wealthy people to ever sell the things they own — preventing the reallocation of capital to more productive uses. But the differential treatment will create a large loophole that people will seek to exploit. Already hedge fund managers have found ways to characterize what is clearly a form of management fees as a form of investment income in order to enjoy a lower tax rate. Closing that loophole and similar ones should be a priority.
One good starting point toward a maximum wage policy would be revisit a 1993 law intended to curb CEO pay. The rule in question said that executive salaries of over $1,000,000 a year could not be deducted from companies' corporate income tax bill. That would be a powerful reason to pay less and redistribute resources inside the firm. But the rule had a gigantic loophole: performance-based pay is exempted.
It's trivial to classify CEO pay as performance-based pay. So these days CEOs are paid more than ever before and whatever they happen to do is deemed excellent performance. Rewriting section 162(m) of the law to have a higher threshold ($10 million?) with no performance loophole would put a dent in the problem, and also generate some potentially relevant data.
But eventually the goal is to impose a new super-high top marginal income tax rate — something like the old 90 percent top rate — at a very high income threshold.
Goals for a super-tax
Only time and research will tell us exactly what the right numbers are. But here are two guiding principles. The super-tax should attempt to bend the Laffer Curve and modestly reduce the amount of federal tax revenue, and the super-tax should try to avoid seriously reducing the number of hours people work.
What you want to do is levy a tax rate that's high enough that almost nobody pays it. But you also want the tax threshold to be high enough that it doesn't induce doctors to see fewer patients and spend more time on vacation. The idea is to nudge corporate executives and big-time finance guys to pay themselves less. For executives, that will leave more money in corporate treasuries to spend on other workers or new investments. For finance, it will leave talented individuals with less-lucrative but more socially-useful careers to pursue.
This is counterintuitive to policymakers who mostly think of taxes as ways to raise revenue. But if you're trying to create a maximum wage then a tax rate that people are paying is a tax rate that's too low. At the same time, a tax rate that's convincing extremely productive workers to simply stop working as hard is hurting the country rather than helping. You want to get in that NBA sweet spot where top CEOs, like top athletes, will still work hard for the sake of money and glory and competition but a larger share of the enterprise's financial rewards flow to the middle class.
|
SALT LAKE CITY — The Episcopal Church on Saturday elected its first African-American presiding bishop during the denomination’s national assembly.
Bishop Michael Curry of North Carolina was elected in a vote by bishops at the Episcopal General Convention, the top legislative body of the church. Bishop Curry won among the bishops in a landslide, earning 121 votes. The other three candidates had 21 votes or less. The decision was affirmed on a vote of 800-12 by the House of Deputies, the voting body of clergy and lay participants at the meeting.
Bishop Curry will succeed Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who will complete her nine-year term on Nov. 1. She was the first female presiding bishop and the first woman to lead an Anglican national church. The New York-based Episcopal Church is the United States body of the Anglican Communion, a worldwide fellowship of churches with 80 million members and with roots in the Church of England.
Bishop Curry, 62, has been bishop of North Carolina since 2000, leading a diocese of 48,000 church members, 112 congregations and a network of ministries. He will now lead a nearly 1.9 million-member sect known for its history as the faith home of many of the nation’s Founding Fathers and presidents.
|
Well, it looks like Mitt Romney’s speech didn’t have much of an impact on Mike Huckabee, who continues to play the anti-Mormon card in an obvious appeal to Evangelicals:
WASHINGTON — Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, asks in an upcoming article, “Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?”
The article, to be published in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, says Huckabee asked the question after saying he believes Mormonism is a religion but doesn’t know much about it. His rival Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, is a member of the Mormon church, which is known officially as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
(…)
A spokeswoman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Huckabee’s question is usually raised by those who wish to smear the Mormon faith rather than clarify doctrine.
“We believe, as other Christians believe and as Paul wrote, that God is the father of all,” said the spokeswoman, Kim Farah. “That means that all beings were created by God and are his spirit children. Christ, on the other hand, was the only begotten in the flesh and we worship him as the son of God and the savior of mankind. Satan is the exact opposite of who Christ is and what he stands for.”
|
We continue to publish results of the “best of the year” community poll results. Today we share with you the most popular EP releases of the year 2016. EPs are also known as Extended Players – are usually much shorter in length, 3-5 tracks.
Below you can see a listing of the most interesting (“best”) EPs of 2016, as voted in our poll. We sincerely hope you will find your favourite artists in the list and will discover something new. As always, don’t forget to give support to creators of music.
We would appreciate if you share this page with the results in internet in order to bring more attention to our “underground” but growing psychill / psybient scene. It will help to support the “winners” as well. It is our way to thank all ARTIST and LABELS presented here for making awesome music. Good Job guys ! Also make sure to notify artist in the list about our results.
please excuse us for a slow website, it is almost unusable now. we are running a crowdfunding campaign now to fix the problem and upgrade everything.
EP of the year 2016:
1.
Aes Dana & Miktek – The Unexpected Hours [Ultimae Records]
2.
Kalya Scintilla – Listen To The Trees [Merkaba Music]
3.
Spundose – Tones That We Broadcast [Street Ritual]
4.
Max Million – Monogramma [Audiomodern]
https://soundcloud.com/maxmillion/monogramma
5.
Androcell – Creatures [Self Released]
6.
Cord – Suburb Tales [Mystic Sound Records]
7.
Nibana – Fireside Tales [ADN Music]
Zen Baboon – Perfect Day [Baboon Clinic]
8.
Dense & Fourth Dimension – Mindcycles Vol. 4 [Cosmicleaf Records]
Dhamika – Eliya EP [Self Released]
Whitebear – Dialectics EP [Shanti Planti]
9.
Dense & Fourth Dimension – Mindcycles Vol. 5 [Cosmicleaf Records]
E-Mantra – Oblivion [Melusine Records]
Geoglyph – Artifact [Visionary Shamanics Records]
Key-G – Future Regression [Nutek Chill]
Seamoon – Crystal Language [Merkaba Music]
10.
Asura – Eternal Sunshine EP [Altar Records]
Ayoto – Ayoto [Mindspring Music]
Birds Of Paradise – Riding The Froth [Addictech Records]
Quanta – Turning Point [Shanti Planti]
psybient.org – 2017 – best of results
(published 6/3) Best new artist for 2016 (psybient, psychill, ambient, psydub, downtempo)
(published 9/3) Favourite “downtempo/ambient dj” of the year 2016
(published 13/3) Best “psychedelic radio” of the year 2016 (psybient, psychill, ambient, psydub, downtempo)
(published 17/3) Label of the year 2016 (psybient, psychill, ambient, psydub, downtempo)
(published 20/3) EP of the year 2016 (psybient, psychill, ambient, psydub, downtempo)
(published 24/3) Best Psychedelic Festival of the year 2016 and overall (psybient, psychill)
(published 27/3) Best “Compilation” of the year 2016
(soon) Best “Album” of the year 2016 (top 20)
(soon) Best “Remix EP / album” of the year 2016
(soon) Favourite “ALL TIME” psybient artist
Future of this project – crowdfunding: Friends, we have been online for almost 4 year ! psybient.org is entirely dedicated to the CHILL universe, over this time we published 400 posts, made 42 interviews and gathered more then 3000 albums and few hundreds links in our catalogs. — Now – Psybient.org website is super SLOW :(
— We have many ideas and it is time to UPGRADE ! We need your help – join crowdfunding, share this page with your friends ! Supporters will get great music from our partners! Each We will gladly use your paypal, bitcoin or bank transfer donations to develop and maintain the psybient.org project website. crowdfunding link text by Gagarin.
We thank our partners for support and donations
Microcosmos Records – label
Visit this website soon for more news.
Have a nice day!
|
The Pakistani Taliban’s official propaganda wing, Umar Media, has released a statement rejecting the Islamic State’s “self-professed caliphate” in Iraq and Syria. The publication, written by a jihadist known as Abu Usman Salarzai, is nearly 60 pages long and purports to expose the errors in Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s claim to be the new caliph.
Salarzai praises Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, as well as Osama bin Laden and his successor as the head of al Qaeda, Ayman al Zawahiri.
The Pakistani Taliban’s statement is the latest twist in the competition between the Islamic State and al Qaeda in South Asia. While the Islamic State has made inroads, primarily by poaching disaffected Afghan and Pakistani Taliban commanders, al Qaeda has deep and longstanding relationships with jihadists throughout the region.
Still, the Islamic State has attempted to cut into the support enjoyed by the Taliban and al Qaeda. In January, a group of mid-level Pakistani Taliban commanders pledged their loyalty to Baghdadi. In February, the group’s emir for the tribal agency of Bajaur also defected to Baghdadi’s cause. The defections came after internal discord and disputes dissolved the original Pakistani Taliban coalition last year.
In March, however, a major faction calling itself the Pakistani Taliban Jamaat ul Ahrar decided to rejoin the original umbrella organization. In addition, another jihadist group named Lashkar-i-Islam also decided to join the Pakistani Taliban. [See LWJ report, Pakistani jihadist groups, Lashkar-i-Islam merge into the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan.]
There have been indications in recent weeks that al Qaeda has been leading the effort to reunite jihadists.
Earlier this month, Matiur Rehman, a veteran al Qaeda leader, united three jihadist groups under his command and then folded them into the Pakistani Taliban coalition. The US Treasury Department has described Rehman as “a planning director for al Qaeda.” Rehman has been connected to multiple planned attacks against the West, including al Qaeda’s 2006 London airliner plot and a thwarted attempt to bomb trains in the New York City area in 2009. [See LWJ report, 3 jihadist groups merge with Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan.]
Umar Media has recently made the Pakistani Taliban’s close relationship with al Qaeda known in other ways as well.
In April, Pakistani Taliban spokesman Muhammad Khorasani released a eulogy for Ustad Ahmad Farooq and Qari Imran, two al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) leaders who were killed in separate US drone strikes in January. [See LWJ report, Pakistani Taliban praises slain al Qaeda leaders.]
Khorasani said that Farooq oversaw Umar Media’s propaganda. “We would frequently meet for the purpose of media related tasks,” Khorasani explained. “During our meetings, if he [Farooq] would see any mistakes in any of our Umar Media productions or in any of my statements that I would release as the spokesman, he would point them out in a very kind and loving way, allowing me to benefit from his valuable suggestions.”
Khorasani said Imran was “among the greatest militant teachers,” and noted that he and “thousands” of other jihadists trained under him.
“Thousands of young men received militant training from him [Imran] before going and dealing heavy strikes against the centers of the infidels,” Khorasani said. “I also gained my militant training from him.”
Abu Usman Salarzai’s rejection of the Islamic State’s “caliphate” contains a critique of the operations authorized by Baghdadi. Namely, Salarzai criticizes the Islamic State’s targeting of Shiite holy sites and civilians, saying such attacks are “unwise” as they alienate the population. His critique is somewhat ironic, given that the Pakistani Taliban has repeatedly carried out unpopular attacks, including a massacre at a military high school last year.
Documents recovered in Osama bin Laden’s compound show that al Qaeda has long maintained close ties to the Pakistani Taliban, but has also tried to rein in its violence.
Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal.
Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
|
If you haven’t noticed, I make a lot of breakfast treats. Muffins, scones, bagels, etc. I bake lots and love ’em all. But these – these are my favorite of all. The reigning champ of breakfast treats. These are definitely one of the main food-related reasons I look forward to fall. Sure, I can make them anytime but they seem to taste best on a crisp fall morning when the sun rises a little later than the days before.
I believe originally these were meant to be a knock-off of a Starbucks bakery item. I’ve never had the original so I have no basis for comparison, but it’s hard to imagine them being better than the homemade version. The streusel topping is not as chunky as some, and instead sort of melts during baking to create a crackly cinnamon-sugar topping that gives these an extra little something. Be sure to mix and freeze the filling in advance so that it is ready to go when you want to make the muffins. They may take a bit more time than your average muffin, but are totally worth it in the end. This is not a new recipe to the blog, but one that needed a little updating with better pics and a printer-friendly version. I hope you’ll enjoy rediscovering this recipe, a true favorite of mine.
|
Donald Trump said that the border wall was "100 percent" going to happen. | AP Photo Trump open to 'softening' some immigration laws
Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he’s open to a “softening” of laws affecting undocumented immigrants, further distancing himself from his previous hardline proposals.
Trump’s latest explanation of his immigration views came during a town hall with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, who asked the nominee, "Is there any part of the law that you might be able to change that would accommodate those people that contribute to society, have been law-abiding, have kids here? … Would there be any rule in your mind?"
Story Continued Below
"There certainly can be a softening because we're not looking to hurt people," Trump replied, according to reporters who saw video of the town hall. "We want people — we have some great people in this country."
But Trump also told Hannity that he’s not backing off some of his more controversial proposals, including a plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“It's going to happen, 100 percent,” Trump said.
Donald Trump's running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, echoed the apparent softening on immigration. In an interview with CBS's Major Garrett, Pence said that the wall will be built, but details about Trump's plan "will continue to be worked out in the days ahead."
Trump has appeared to wobble on his most incendiary immigration proposals since his campaign shakeup last week that included the promotion of Kellyanne Conway, a respected Republican pollster, as his campaign manager.
BuzzFeed reported on Saturday that Trump had told Hispanic leaders that he had indicated an openness to legalization for undocumented immigrants — a report that Trump’s campaign pushed back on — and Conway on Sunday said Trump’s plan for a mass deportation force was “to be determined.”
Trump was also due to give a major immigration speech on Thursday in Colorado, but that event was scrapped without explanation.
During the town hall on Tuesday, Trump offered a few more clues about his latest thinking on the issue that has fueled much of his campaign, mentioning the idea of having a “merit system” for immigrants.
He also said more has to be done about the people who have spent “years and years” in line waiting to become citizens.
"They’re great people in some cases, and I guess in some cases, maybe not,” he said. “But you have really great people wanting and so proudly wanting to come into our country and now what you’re doing is you take people away from that line."
Zach Montellaro contributed to this report.
|
Raccoons have been frustrating Toronto homeowners for years, stalking around yards and creating chaos as they feast on garbage and green bin scraps. But a local industrial designer believes he’s found a cure for anxiety induced by the masked marauders. Simon Treadwell says he has invented a raccoon-proof green bin.
Simon Treadwell's green bin latch system has proved to be racoon-proof in highly aromatic tests in an Etobicoke backyard. ( Lucas Oleniuk / Toronto Star ) Designer Simon Treadwell shows off his "racoon-proof" green bin prototype in his studio ( Lucas Oleniuk / Toronto Star )
The City of Toronto put out a request for proposal for a better green bin last year, and Scarborough manufacturer Scepter asked Treadwell if he would team up on the challenge. “It was right up my alley,” said the president of Treadwell & Company Design. Meeting the requirements of the proposal, however, was tricky. The bin had to be easy for anybody to use, and had to open automatically when turned upside down, a feature that would allow the city to automate pickup. It also had to keep nocturnal bandits out.
Article Continued Below
“You have to keep it locked when the raccoons knock it over, and you have to prevent the raccoons from getting into it after the fact,” Treadwell explained. So he and his team got to work, and eventually came up with a double latch to hold the bin closed, inspired by the latches that keep fences closed. The patented fastener ensures that, if the bin is turned on its side or knocked backwards, one or both of the hook latches catch, keeping the lid holding tight to the bucket. When the bin is dumped upside down, however, gravity swings both latches open, and the lid falls away from the bucket. “We liked it because, mechanically, there’s nothing complex here. It’s dead-simple,” Treadwell said. Larger than the current problem-plagued green bins, Treadwell’s bin holds about 92 litres of waste and has a double-walled lid for extra security. If a raccoon somehow manages to get its little paws past the first wall of thick plastic, there’s a second wall to stymie its efforts. Once the team had a usable prototype, they put their invention to the test. It passed the pickup requirements, with the lid swinging open when the giant claws of a garbage truck clutched the bucket and turned it upside down.
But would the latch truly prevent the crafty critters from getting inside? To find out, the team filled a bin with sardines and cat food, sprinkling some of the mixture around the container and on the lid in an attempt to bait the raccoons into knocking it over.
Article Continued Below
“We were hoping the aroma would seep out. It was disgusting. But they loved it,” Treadwell said. They put the bait out in a backyard in Etobicoke and set up night-vision cameras to record the action. For six nights, raccoons tried to break into the big green vault. “We watched them knock it over, we watched them put their claws in and try to pry it open . . . And they couldn’t get in,” Treadwell said, pointing out deep gouges the bandits left in the thick green plastic. Early next month, Treadwell and his team will deliver prototypes to the city to be tested. If the bins meet the city’s requirements, they could soon be seen on curbs all round the city. The green bin has become an important project from Treadwell, who has designed a variety of other products, from pressure washers and heaters to spoons for frozen yogurt. “Most of my stuff I can go to a store and see it. But this one’s special because it’s for the city,” he said. “I feel like I really want to get this right for the city and have people like it.
|
We’ve gone a little nuts for birds over here. We decorate edible Christmas trees for them and throw them birthday parties. Now we’ve made them their very own gingerbread house! The goal for us was not only to create something beautiful for the animals, but to get outside to observe and play afterwards.
Ok, I’m not gonna lie this is not a small project, and it’s best to do it in stages. But for us it was so worth it. It’s important that my daughter participate in activities where we are working in the service of wild things. She was able to help with a lot of elements of this project (assembling the cardboard house, constructing the peanut fence, spreading peanut butter on the base and adding the popcorn). Other steps might be best for bigger hands.
What You Need
A Bird House
You will need a house to decorate. There are two options to choose from depending on your materials, time and desired effort.
Option 1. Homemade house
You can make your own house of out any materials you have around (gingerbread, graham crackers, wood, etc.). We made ours out of cardboard because I wanted to recycle and eventually compost some of the boxes we have around. If you are using the cardboard gingerbread house, download and follow the instructions for making it here.
Option 2: Bought house
This project is significantly easier if you buy a pre-made house. Here is one made of gingerbread and an actual wooden birdhouse.
Base for House
We wanted our house on a table so that we could have a “yard” and to help stabilize the house, so we made a bigger base out of cardboard. If you are hanging the house, or buy an existing birdhouse you probably don’t need a base.
Edible Decorations for the House
1. Smooth peanut butter
2. Bird seed mix – here’s a great guide to what seeds will attract which birds.
3. Sunflower seeds (separate from the bird seed mix)
4. Popcorn (best without butter or flavorings)
5. Cranberries
6. Peanuts in the shell
7. Crackers
Optional
1. A small wreath made out of pine
2. Red and white twine
3. Any other unique/creative personal touches – miniature lamp posts made out of acorns and sticks, a marshmallow snowman etc…(all things I was going to do, but I had to check myself before I wrecked myself :))
4. An icing spreader
5. A glue gun and glue (if using the cardboard ginger bread house)
What You Do
Assemble Your House
Unless you bought a pre-assembled house, you will need to construct one out of gingerbread, cardboard, graham crackers, or other. As I mentioned, I made one out of cardboard. I used a mixture of tape and hot glue (only on the inside seams) in order to construct the house.
Decorate the Edible House
This is the part of the project where you can stretch your creative muscles and have fun! Keep it as simple or complex as you want. Here is what I did:
1. Using the icing spreader, put peanut butter on all four walls of the house.
2. Push crackers into the peanut butter where you would like the windows and doors to be.
3. Put birdseed all over the four walls.
4. Spread peanut butter on the roof doing one side at a time.
5. Push sunflower seeds into the peanut butter to make “shingles on the roof”.
6. Put cranberries along the ridge of the roof.
7. For a snow covered yard, spread peanut butter on the base around the house leaving an area for the pathway leading up to the house and put popcorn in between the fence and the side of the house.
8. Put peanuts or pretzels all around the outside of the base to make a fence.
Feeding the Birds
1. It’s time to watch the magic unfold! When choosing a location for the house, try to strike the balance between putting the house close to your observation spot, but far enough away that the birds feel safe enough to eat.
2. If they aren’t coming to the house, one thing you can do is put it near a feeder that they are already familiar with or put up a new feeder near the house. You can also spread seed all over the table that the house is sitting on.
Patience is the key here, if you feed them, they will come!
Getting Outside
One of the most important aspects of this activity is how it can inspire quality wild time in. My daughter went out to spread extra seeds around the base of the house. Our favorite part was bundling up and hiding just out of view to watch the birds eat. After a lot of free-play (the best kind of play in nature!), we printed out and did this scavenger hunt via inspirationlaboratories.
Activity Extensions
Here are some goodies to get the kids extra excited and invested in this project:
Something to read
Here is a great list of bird books via cuttingtinybites
Something to play
We love to play Bird Bingo. You can check it out the game here.
Art to make
Winter Bird Art Lesson via @deepspacesparkle
I’d love to hear how this adventure goes for you!
Your Woman Gone Wild,
PIN IT FOR LATER!
|
Though it has not been explicitly stated, the Persian Gulf states that are backing the Saudi intervention — the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain — also have another goal: combating growing Iranian influence. Yet bombing has so far failed to achieve any of these objectives.
Past foreign military interventions in Yemen have failed. Following a four-year insurgency against colonial rule, the British were forced to withdraw from Aden in 1967, resulting in the formation of the People’s Republic of South Yemen. An intervention led by Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt in 1962-67, designed to prop up a pro-Egyptian government, likewise failed as Yemeni tribesmen waged an effective guerrilla war against Egyptian troops. More recently, a 2009 Saudi invasion of northern Yemen, responding to cross-border raids by the Houthis, ended in the withdrawal of Saudi troops, and no strategic gains. Each failed because of the internecine nature of tribal conflict in Yemen and the effective use of guerrilla tactics. Any ground force in the current conflict will also suffer defeat.
The Houthis have long felt marginalized by Yemen’s political processes, and argue that corruption and a lack of representation mean that they don’t experience any benefits from economic development or Yemen’s natural resources. The group has waged a successful decade-long guerrilla war against the government in Sana. They know the terrain and have local support. After more than a decade of counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan, the futility of subduing tribal insurgencies should be well known to the United States.
Moreover, restoring Mr. Hadi, now in exile in Riyadh, would solve none of Yemen’s underlying problems. The free and fair elections promised during the Arab Spring were postponed because of factional disagreements; Mr. Hadi himself has no domestic power base. Though this made him an ideal compromise candidate in 2012, it constrains his ability to effectively govern.
The United States should encourage a political settlement, focused not on reinstalling a figurehead, but on creating a durable political process that addresses the grievances of Yemen’s regional groups. A two-sector federalized state, which the Houthis have supported in the past, could provide such a framework.
Yemen has the potential to become the next Syria, spiraling into sectarian violence, with money and arms from abroad fueling the conflict. If Arab airstrikes continue, Yemen is likely to become a failed state. Tragically, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula would be the one beneficiary, as the terrorist group enjoys a respite from drone strikes, counterterrorism campaigns and Houthi attacks.
A bombing campaign won’t stabilize Yemen, or counter Iranian influence in the region. Instead, it could lead to a prolonged and bloody civil war and provide fertile ground for extremist groups. With the United States already bogged down in Iraq and Syria, there is little political appetite among Americans for wider intervention in Yemen. But the United States should stop reflexively supporting the Saudi-led military campaign, and instead push for a political settlement, so that the Arab world is spared from another unmanageable conflict.
Emma Ashford is a visiting research fellow at the Cato Institute.
|
On the Danish 50-kroner banknote there's a portrait of Isak Dinesen. It's signed Karen Blixen, which is how she is known in Denmark. She's shown at the age of 60 or so, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a fur collar, and looking very glamorous indeed.
I first saw Dinesen when I was 10, in a photo shoot in Life magazine. My experience then was similar to that of Sara Stambaugh, one of her bio-critics: "I well remember my own excitement around 1950, when, leafing through a used copy of Life magazine, I stumbled across an article on the Danish Baroness Karen Blixen, her identity not simply revealed but celebrated in big, glossy black-and-white photographs. I still remember one in particular, showing her leaning dramatically from a window, striking, turbaned, and emaciated."
To my young eyes, this person in the pictures was like a magical creature from a fairytale: an impossibly aged woman, a thousand years old at least. Her outfits were striking and the makeup of the era had been carefully applied, but the effect was carnivalesque – like a dressed-up Mexican skeleton. Her expression, however, was bright-eyed and ironic: she seemed to be enjoying the show-stopping, if not grotesque, impression she was making.
Could Dinesen have been contemplating such a moment in Seven Gothic Tales, 25 years earlier? In the story "The Supper at Elsinore", the De Coninck siblings are described as living memento mori: " … as you got, from the face of the brother, the key of understanding to this particular type of family beauty, you would recognise it at once in the appearance of the sisters, even in the two youthful portraits on the wall. The most striking characteristic in the three heads was the generic resemblance to the skull."
Dinesen was already ill at the time of the 1950 pictures. Nine years later she made a final triumphant visit to New York. She was lionised; famous writers paid homage to her, including EE Cummings and Arthur Miller; her public appearances were packed; and there were more photos. Less than three years later she was dead, as she must have known she would be. Her flamboyant self-presentation takes on, in retrospect, a new meaning: in her place, other doomed sufferers might have stayed in seclusion, concealing from the camera the wreckage of a once striking beauty, but instead Dinesen chose the full public spotlight. Was she incarnating one of her own dominant literary motifs – the brave but futile gesture in the face of almost certain death? It's tempting to think so.
New York was a fitting choice for her swan song, since it was New York that had made her famous back in 1934 when Seven Gothic Tales took America by storm. Rejected by several publishers for the usual reasons – short stories didn't sell, the author was unknown, the stories themselves were odd and not attuned to the zeitgeist – the book was finally picked up by a smaller American publisher, Harrison Smith & Robert Haas. There were conditions: the well-known novelist Dorothy Canfield Fisher must write an introduction, and the author was to receive no advance. Blixen gambled and took the offer. Then she won – for, much to the surprise of all, Seven Gothic Tales was chosen by the Book-of-the-Month Club, which was a guarantee of wide publicity and large sales.
Now it was time for Blixen to make her own condition: she would publish under a nom de plume, Isak Dinesen. "Dinesen" was her maiden name, "Isak" was the Danish version of Isaac (which means "laughter"), the name picked by the elderly Sarah in the Book of Genesis for her late and unexpected child. Blixen's American publisher tried to talk her out of using a pseudonym, but to no avail: she was determined to be multiple. (And, by the way, male, or at least genderless. Perhaps she did not wish to be thrust into the Lady Scribbler cage, suggestive of lesser merit.)
"Isak" was appropriate: Blixen's emergence as a writer was indeed late and unexpected. She had returned to Denmark in 1931, stony broke – her marriage was finished; her African coffee farm had failed; her romantic lover, big-game hunter Denys Finch Hatton, had died in a plane crash. Although she had written much earlier – her first stories were published when she was barely 20 – she'd chosen marriage and Africa over writing; but that life was now finished. At 46, she must have been feeling both desolate and desperate; but also, evidently, boiling with creative energy.
The stories in Seven Gothic Tales were written at speed and under pressure. They were also written in English: one reason usually given was that Blixen felt English would be more practical than Danish, since many more potential readers spoke it. But there were surely some deeper motives. She herself was fluent in English; so what, we might ask, could she have been reading in English during her formative years? What, that is, might have led her to write "tales" rather than "stories"? Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales? Old wives' tales? Fairy tales? The Winter's Tale, the Shakespeare play that lent its name to a later Dinesen collection?
The distinction between the two forms was well understood in Victorian times. The French distinguish between contes – from raconter, to relate, often intertwined with the notion of yarn-spinning, as in raconter des salades – corresponding roughly to our "tales"; and nouvelles, which are stories with their feet firmly on realistic ground. In a "tale", a woman may change into a monkey before our very eyes, as one does in the Dinesen tale, "The Monkey"; in a mainstream short story, she cannot.
"Tales" have tellers and listeners within them, much more frequently than realistic stories do. The most famous tale-spinner of all is Scheherazade, narrating to stave off death, and that is the very first storytelling situation Dinesen offers us. In "The Deluge at Norderney", a courageous group of aristocrats who have chosen to exchange places with a small peasant family waits out the night while a flood rises around them, telling stories to encourage one another and pass the time. Perhaps a boat will arrive at dawn to rescue them; perhaps they will be swept away first. Dinesen ends her story thus:
"Between the boards a strip of fresh
deep blue was showing, against
which the little lamp seemed to
make a red stain. The dawn was
breaking.
The old woman slowly drew her
fingers out of the man's hand, and
placed one upon her lips.
'À ce moment de sa narration,' she
said, 'Scheherazade vit paraître le
matin, et, discrète, se tut.'"
Seven Gothic Tales is filled with storytellers, and also with the kind of fractal exfoliation and multichambering structures so abundantly typical of more ancient tales, such as those in One Thousand and One Nights and Boccaccio's Decameron. There is a "frame" – a couple of men on a boat, for instance, whiling away the time by telling about their lives, as in "The Dreamers"; then one of those stories leads into another, told by yet another person within it, which opens up into another, which then links back to the first, and so on. As with Scheherazade, much of this tale-telling (and indeed much of the action in the tales recounted) takes place at night.
But Seven Gothic Tales also echoed a more recent period in which writers drew on these older-time forms of tale-telling. Blixen was born in 1885, three years after Robert Louis Stevenson published his first collection, New Arabian Nights. That moment ushered in a rich period of late Victorian and Edwardian tale-telling, in both short and long forms, that stretched to the outbreak of the first world war. Not only Stevenson, but Arthur Conan Doyle, MR James, the Henry James of The Turn of the Screw and "The Jolly Corner," the Oscar Wilde of The Picture of Dorian Gray, the early HG Wells of The Time Machine and The Island of Doctor Moreau, Bram Stoker of Dracula, the H Rider Haggard of She, the George du Maurier of Trilby, and a host of other English-language tale-spinners engaged with ghosts and possession and the uncanny were energetically publishing in those years. (Borges, Calvino and Ray Bradbury, among others, drank from the same well.)
Stevenson was possibly the most important of these for her. She kept a collected edition of his work in her library, and alludes to him overtly in the story "The Dreamers" by naming one of her characters, Olalla, after one of his. That particular story plays with many other motifs from the tale-telling tradition, not all of them English: the heroine of multiple identities, as in The Tales of Hoffman; the dark enchanter, a mirror reversal of the Svengali figure in Trilby, linked with an opera singer who has lost her voice.
Two motifs from Stevenson's early work are particularly dominant throughout Seven Gothic Tales: the courageous act or last throw of the dice in the face of impending doom, as in (to give only one instance) Stevenson's "The Pavilion on the Links"; and the controlling older person manipulating the sexual destinies of the young, as in his "The Sire de Maletroit's Door". In the Stevenson stories all turns out well, but in Dinesen's various things do not go so smoothly. In "The Poet", the old arranger gets shot and bashed to death by the two young innamorati with whose fates he has been toying, and who will now face execution themselves; in "The Monkey", a marriage designed to cloak homosexuality is forced, not only by rape, but by a horrifying metempsychosis; in "The Roads Round Pisa", the old arranger is deceived into fighting an unnecessary duel, then dies of a heart attack from the stress. In "The Deluge at Norderney", the marriage stuck together by the elderly Baroness is not only invalid – the officiating Cardinal being in fact another person entirely – but all the participants may soon perish. Dinesen affirms the Romantic through her insistence on the spiritual validity of honour, but she also subverts it. Not so fast with the happy endings, she seems to be telling us.
As with the stories in New Arabian Nights, and indeed as with modern "Romantic" conventions, many of Dinesen's tales are placed long ago and far away; but whereas with Stevenson the choice was primarily aesthetic, for Dinesen there is another layer of significance. She was gazing back at that late Victorian and Edwardian golden age of tale-telling across a vast gulf: not only the years during which her own earlier life had ended up as wreckage, but also the first world war, which had smashed the social fabric of belief, status and social convention that had held sway in the two centuries before it.
Dinesen can see that vanished country as if through a telescope: she describes it in minute and loving detail, even the more unpleasant sides of it – the provincialism; the snobbery; the inturned, stifled lives – but she can't return to it except through storytelling. It's lost to all but words. There's a vein of stoic, clear-eyed nostalgia running through her work, and, despite the ironic distance she often assumes, the elegiac tone is never far away.
Nevertheless, what pleasure she must have felt in the process; and what pleasure she has provided for her many readers, over time. Seven Gothic Tales is the opening act of a remarkable writing career, one that placed Dinesen on the list of essential 20th-century authors. As James Joyce invokes Daedalus the maze-maker at the end of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man – "Old father, old artificer" – so many readers and writers might invoke Dinesen: "Old mother, old tale-spinner, stand me now and ever in good stead."
And from those Life magazine photographs, her enigmatic, ornamented skeleton self with the living eyes gallantly returns our gaze.
• The Folio Society edition of Seven Gothic Tales, with an introduction by Margaret Atwood, is out now.
|
BRIT HUME: President Obama's handling of the deteriorating situation in Syria follows a pattern traceable through much of his political career. When the issues are difficult and the options unappetizing, he tends simply to go away.
Recall his history of voting present in the Illinois legislature. But when you're president you can't simply vote present.
Eventually, you have to decide. So he often decides but says as little about it as possible. His decision to send small arms to the Syrian insurgents was announced by a junior White House aide. We've heard nothing since.
When the NSA phone number database blew up into headlines, Mr. Obama answered a question about it in passing, but then went silent.
It has fallen to members of both parties in Congress and to the likes of Dick Cheney to mount a public defense of the program. But none of them has the platform or the megaphone commanded by the president. He, though, apparently feels that to use it on such issues as Syria and the NSA would only call attention to policies his allies on the left are already upset about. Which raises the question of whether Mr. Obama's decision to both do and say as little as possible on the fateful night in Benghazi, Libya last September sprang from the same political impulse.
But foreign policy and defense are the one area in which the federal government and the executive branch have sole responsibility. Silence may be a way to duck but it is not a way to lead.
|
Roland has announced the Jupiter-50 Synthesizer, the second release in its contemporary generation of Jupiter-series keyboards. Inheriting the sounds and Live Set architecture of the acclaimed Jupiter-80, four separate sound engines can be stacked together to create classic fat synth tones and massive voices. The lightweight, streamlined design also makes it an essential keyboard for players everywhere.
Inside, the Jupiter-50 is equipped with a sound engine containing all of the SuperNATURAL synthesizer and acoustic tones found in the Jupiter-80. Users can even import Jupiter-80 sound data into the Jupiter-50 or utilize powerful onboard multi-effects and reverb for studio-quality sound processing.
Roland released the Jupiter-80 in 2011, reviving one of the most revered names in synthesizer history. Powered by the SuperNATURAL Sounds and Behavior Modeling technology, Roland says "the Jupiter-80 has received universal praise from professionals around the world for its extraordinary sound and expressive, organic realism when emulating acoustic instruments."
With the Jupiter-50, Roland brings this technology to a slim, light, and portable instrument designed for live performance. It features a 76-note weighted keyboard, with a well-organized user interface that's intuitive to navigate while performing. The color-coded front panel and Registration function makes it extremely simple to find, create, and save sounds in the heat of music making.
A USB Song Player/Recorder lets users play backing tracks and record performances via USB flash media. The Jupiter-50 also functions as a USB audio/MIDI interface, making it easy to integrate the synth with any popular computer music software. Cakewalk's SONAR LE DAW is included, as well as the Jupiter-50 Control Surface plug-in, which gives the ability to control SONAR from Jupiter-50.
The Jupiter-50 will be available in late spring. At the same time, a Version 2 update for the flagship Jupiter-80 will be released.
Watch YouTube Demo
For more information on the Jupiter series, please visit www.RolandConnect.com.
|
Eddie Betts's greatest AFL goals: Best of the Betts from Carlton to Adelaide
Updated
Everyone loves Eddie Betts. If you don't, you're doing footy wrong.
Not many players in the history of the game have produced such a steady stream of highlights over the course of a career, and even fewer have had a pocket named after them at their home ground.
On a weekly basis, Betts raises his own bar with goals most players wouldn't dare attempt. No angle is too acute, no pack too congested and no attempt too far-fetched for Eddie.
On Saturday night, he added another ripper to the highlights reel against GWS with an effort that may well earn him his third goal of the year award - the garage must surely be running out of room.
With Eddie Fever flowing through just about every footy fan in the country at the moment, treat yourself to a (by no means definitive) collection of the best of the Betts.
Round 10, 2016 v GWS
The goal that inspired the list, and one right up there with Betts's most sensational.
As the footy harmlessly rolled towards the boundary line, two players - mere mortals in the eyes of the Eddie - played it safe and attempted to usher it over and out.
Enter Eddie. Like next door's cat as you pull up your driveway, he came flying out of absolutely nowhere to snatch the ball and keep it alive. Bounding back to his feet, Eddie evaded a tackler and bought himself a yard of space.
From there, only one result was coming. Betts snapped truly from deep in the pocket, leaving a pile of bemused bodies and an utterly euphoric Adelaide Oval crowd in his wake.
Round 21, 2006 v Collingwood
Betts was only in his second season in 2006, and was still making a name for himself at the top level after being picked up by the Blues in the preseason draft.
Midway through this fixture against the finals-bound Magpies, Betts took his chance to steal the show. Kinda.
Plenty at the ground might have missed this goal as one great big unholy stink was going on in the centre square at the time. Alan Didak had just caved Heath Scotland's face in with a crude elbow, and all hell was breaking loose.
But as play continued around the mayhem, the ball found its way deep into the pocket of the MCG, where Betts robbed Tarkyn Lockyer of possession and defied the laws of physics with a checkside effort from the boundary for his first goal of the year gong.
Round 13, 2014 v North Melbourne
After less than a season at the rejuvenated Adelaide Oval, Eddie had his own pocket. And in this pocket, Eddie was free to do as he pleased.
So when he received the ball on the 50 metre arc with only inches between he and the boundary line, should anybody have been surprised by what happened next?
Perhaps the boundary umpire was kind to Eddie, as the ball looked awfully close to being out of bounds, but to have pulled this goal back would have been a serious injustice.
Somehow, Betts managed to contort the football over the goal umpire's hat. It is his pocket, after all.
Round 18, 2011 v Essendon
Sometimes, you need to spare a thought for defenders in the AFL. They are the ones that are trusted with trying to stop Betts, and more often than not they end up looking a bit silly in the process.
This goal, one of eight Eddie slotted against the Bombers on the night, was kicked from the exact position he received the ball - yet somehow Betts had managed to contort and twist and utterly bemuse a pair of defenders before converting.
There was a hop, a skip and a little dummy as Eddie broke some ankles and sent Michael Hurley lunging at fresh air before snapping over his shoulder.
Poor old Hurley is still looking for that footy today.
Round nine, 2015 v Fremantle
It was almost as if Eddie had run out of ways to impress us, so had to come up with something seriously crazy lest his act get a bit stale.
Right foot goals? Done 'em. The bananas and checksides? Done 'em. Freak goals from his very own pocket? Done 'em oh so many times.
What's left then? A left-footed torp from the opposite pocket? Sure, why not then.
Nobody else in the league would have had the guts to even attempt this effort on goal, let alone the skill to pull it off. After watching this, one seriously has to wonder if there's anything this magician can't do.
Topics: australian-football-league, sport, adelaide-5000, sa, australia
First posted
|
Kevin Magnussen is close to his father Jan, a former F1 driver, but does not want him offering advice from the pits
The sight of Kevin Magnussen with his father, Jan, in the paddock during the Malaysian Grand Prix may have delighted McLaren supporters of a nostalgic disposition – but it is something they will not see repeated regularly this season.
Magnussen Jr says he does not want his family around because it distracts him from talking to engineers and mechanics. Magnussen, who finished on the podium on his Formula One debut in Australia last month, is one of the outstanding young stars in the sport, while Jan, who was once described by Sir Jackie Stewart as the driver with the greatest potential since Ayrton Senna, had his F1 break with the same Woking-based team in 1995, although it was a short-lived career at the top.
Earlier this year, Jan talked about curtailing his still successful career in motorsport to devote more time to support his son. But when Kevin was asked whether he would welcome that, he paused, then replied: "Not really."
He added, sounding at little like the famously solitary Greta Garbo: "I'm quite happy to be alone. For the reason that if I have family round I feel a distraction. It's nice to have them there, really nice, but then I want to spend time with them, and that's not good.
"It's frustrating. So I prefer them not to be there, really. I prefer to spend time with the engineers. In Malaysia, with my dad, the only time I really spent time with him was when we had dinner back at the hotel, in the room, just me and him. That was good, to have him there, just before going to bed, to have a chat.
"I grew up with my mum, so I'm very, very close to her. But I'm close to my dad as well, and we talk about racing a lot, as we share that passion. I guess that's quite normal. But I don't need him there.
"He asks questions, because he's been out of Formula One for a long time. He has a lot of questions for me. A lot of stuff has changed and a lot of that he doesn't know about. He's learning as well. He's very interested in what's going on.
"So we have a chat about racing, what the car's like to drive. We share the emotions of driving race cars. It's cool to have a dad who understands what you mean when you talk about oversteer or traction. But it's not a help at the race."
Magnussen has struggled to live up to his breezy start in Australia. But that's more the fault of a McLaren car that is short of downforce and not really capable of challenging Mercedes. McLaren were off the pace again in qualifying on Saturday, when they failed to reach Q3.
But Magnussen, like Daniel Ricciardo, Daniil Kvyat and Valtteri Bottas, is one of a number of gifted young racers who are challenging the paddock's establishment. "We will learn very quickly," he says. "If you come to Formula One you have already proved that you are able to adapt and learn and be fast. For me, I feel it's a big help to have Jenson [Button]. He's easy to approach, he speaks very well, he's got lots of experience and he's fast. I couldn't ask for a better team-mate.
"And you can say the same about Ricciardo, who has a guy [Sebastian Vettel] who has experience and is good, obviously, and four-times world champion. It's really important to have someone to learn from. And if you have that it's possible to go out and perform."
This is what Magnussen, 21, who has lived near the team's Surrey headquarters since 2011, has always wanted to do.
"Every day, I'm living my dream. Every day when I do this it feels just like the dream I had for so many years. So this is a dream come true, even though I haven't achieved my goals yet."
Magnussen says his strength is his ability to analyse himself and see his weaknesses – pushing too hard and braking too late is the main one now, he says.
He never had any heroes as a boy, but adds: "I was just a fan of Formula One. And a fan of McLaren. Ayrton Senna was not racing when I was watching it. But he was a legend and the reason I started watching and cheering McLaren. And my dad was a big part of that too."
But that same dad will not be a constant companion in the season ahead.
|
Early: Mason's Children, Casey Jones, Black Peter, Mama Tried, Hard To Handle, Cumberland Blues, Cryptical Envelopment-> Drums-> The Other One-> Cryptical Envelopment-> Cosmic Charlie
Late: Uncle John's Band > High Time, Dire Wolf, Easy Wind, China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, Good Lovin' > drums > Good Lovin', Me And My Uncle, Monkey & The Engineer, Dark Star > St. Stephen > The Eleven > Turn On Your Lovelight
SBD>MR>C>D>CD>EAC>SHN with aud patch;
complete early/late shows;
Thanks to A. Lemiex, Uli & Hanno
plus-circle Add Review
comment Reviews
Reviewer: clementinescaboose - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - October 10, 2017
Subject: Best Dark Star of the year? This performance easily rivals the likes of 2/13, 6/24, 9/19, and 11/8. The Tigten Up jam is stunning, symphonic perfection. - October 10, 2017Best Dark Star of the year?
Reviewer: klopez1253 - favorite favorite favorite favorite - July 7, 2014
Subject: great show after Hendrix and before 2-11 & 2/13 Just in case it's not clear from other reviews, the Zarathustra theme was a Fillmore East thing, not a Grateful Dead thing -- probably the Joshua Light Show, and frequently played with the movie clip of the killing of King Kong -- "twas Beauty killed the Beast" -- as the visual. That probably explains the audience cheers, too: they/we tended to cheer when Kong knocked another one of the planes from the sky around the Empire State Building (a fitting NYC image).
I stayed in the East Village from the Band of Gypsy's concert New Year's Eve until this show, and the Dead lived up to the Hendrix legacy, if there was any question about that. The Dark Star is as exploratory as it gets, and although I don't think it is as good as 2/13 it definitely laid the foundation for it: on 2/13 they were "standing on the shoulders of giants" -- themselves.
The Dead always had to coax the New York audience into following the muse/music and they did it here flawlessly.
I came back for 1/3 because this was such a great, mind-bending show (their improvisations in Dark Star, which incorporated an endless variety of unexpected riffs, samba included, gave proof to the idea that they were actually exploring -- WITH the audience -- and not just going through the motions. To me this was the hallmark of the Dead from that era.)
A great show, and a great moment in the band's history.
This would be a five-star for any other band, but only the Dead could go so far beyond it that it has to be given four stars in order to allow the other, amazing concerts to be differentiated. - July 7, 2014great show after Hendrix and before 2-11 & 2/13
Reviewer: chris phillips - favorite favorite favorite favorite - August 3, 2013
Subject: let it shine Love Light was the highlight to my ears.
Black Peter is excellent. - August 3, 2013let it shine
Reviewer: ms42466 - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - March 23, 2013
Subject: wow ,what an 11 !!!! tight 11 u will c !!!! - March 23, 2013wow ,what an 11 !!!!
Reviewer: bass-great-lesh-phillin - favorite favorite favorite favorite - March 16, 2013
Subject: sick show cool jazzy sorta outtro on dark star - March 16, 2013sick show
Reviewer: just one thing - - January 29, 2013
Subject: OOhh. I LIKE that Tighten Up jam From 17:45 to 28:15? Beautiful! Warm feeling with flavors of Sugar Magnolia and Eyes of the World. Is this based on the 1968 thing by Archie Bell and the Drells from Houston? No disrespect to that contribution but the Dead put a ahine on it that I have never heard anywhere else. Then again, I guess that is what it is all about. When I was laying out my $13.50 for a ticket, this is exactly the kind of thing I hoped to hear. - January 29, 2013OOhh. I LIKE that Tighten Up jam
Reviewer: obie191970 - favorite favorite favorite favorite - January 4, 2013
Subject: @jjf47 That "samba beat" is the Tighten Up jam and was quite common in both Dark Star's and Dancin's from late '69 through the end of '70. They pulled it out one last time on 10-31-71 and can be found on DP's 2. Anyway - The DS through Lovelight is about as good as you can get. Well worth the listen. - January 4, 2013@jjf47
Reviewer: njpg - favorite favorite favorite - January 3, 2013
Subject: Easily four star quality, but unorganizable due to lack of track info. Sweet jams, a few conspicuous trainwrecks. - January 3, 2013Easily four star quality,
Reviewer: jjf47 - favorite favorite favorite - January 3, 2013
Subject: 1970 Some high parts and some low parts. I sort of agree with most of the reviewers, to a degree, and although this is still considered early dead it is beginning to start the long strange trip to a different style of dead. The Dark Star sounds good for the first 15 to 20 minutes then it starts in with some kind of samba beat - what the hell does that have to do with Dark Star - a samba beat - ?
Is Jerry doing the samba in space - with Bobby - and Pig, et al - ?
Sorry, guys, but that just doesn't appeal to me for some strange reason.
Stephen and The Eleven also take a strange turn - but not as strange as the last half of Dark Star.
The Other One is cool! Easy Wind - although not as strong as some of the other versions.
I like Bobby's take on Monkey and the Engineer on this recording.
Pig on Lovelight is strong. So is Hard to Handle - although it is too short here.
All in all, it is a good show - not a strong show - but a good one. - January 3, 20131970
Reviewer: doug_the_dude - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - January 2, 2013
Subject: -- Amazing to hear this first show of 1970 against their New Year's show of two days before - just listen to the difference in sound! It's almost as if the band was consciously going for a new sound at the start of the new decade - probably didn't go down that way, but the sound speaks for itself...
To the early show - prime, prime goods - only problems here being the board itself, which is in need of some serious patches. The Zarathustra overture and beginning of Mason's is patched, so there's an aud out there, right? Some enterprising deadhead want to have a go at that Other One, the end of Charlie, and the beginnings of UJB and Easy Wind? :)
The highlights here are numerous and aren't even really worth decontructing - just a couple of notes - the searing, fantastic, long, winding, driving steer from the Other One castle so perfectly on into Cosmic Charlie has to be heard! And, as others have noted, Tom is a big presence here - check out his work on Dire Wolf, in particular!
Late show is a masterpiece. No disclaimers whatsoever, except, again, for the obvious patch problems - that one between the Star and Stephen is brutal, yes, but not enough to warrant skipping it. This is towering, 100% prime, grade A electric Dead. That Dark Star I think I've listened to a hundred zillion times, and it never, ever gets old. Love how they explored that crashing-armor-mesh-dropping-onto-the-floor negative space after the first verse... - January 2, 2013--
Reviewer: oydave - favorite favorite favorite favorite - October 6, 2012
Subject: Top Ten Dark Star Every now and then on my journey through the past, I hear a DARK STAR that just knocks Little Dave in the dirt and this is one. Do not miss! The whole show is very tasty. Love the MAMA TRIED, OTHER ONE and GOOD LOVIN'. Hendrix left some magic in the room from BAND OF GYPSYS as if they need it. - October 6, 2012Top Ten Dark Star
Reviewer: Mind Wondrin - favorite favorite favorite - September 11, 2012
Subject: Constanten City with a famous Dark Star [comments for the late show, on a date that also had an early show]
One of the greatest Dark Stars and a show that illustrates the Constanten version of the band when he was at his peak influence, for anyone curious about that era. The DS was much circulated for its uniqueness but the show also has a tight Me & My Uncle (albeit there are a ton of these in '70) and a great Eleven. Overall the early show is better.
The DS sounds like a late-70s Space and has a Tighten Up jam. It segues into a decent enough Stephen (with the cannon shot) and then the great extended-jam Eleven. A fast Lovelight begins after a pause!
Overall : C+
3 stars
Don't Miss :
Me & My Uncle
Dark Star>Saint Stephen>The Eleven
Cotsman18120 surpasses other sources I've heard for the late show (the one with Dark Star). hanno12624 is better for the early show. - September 11, 2012Constanten City with a famous Dark Star
Reviewer: jgmf - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - January 13, 2012
Subject: simply wonderful The Dark Star > Stephen > Eleven > Lovelight is an all-timer. Never mind that the end of Dark Star and the transition into SS is cut ... you know what it sounds like. Everything else is just so good around it, it doesn't really matter.
The Dark Star easily rivals 2/13/70 (yeah, I said it), exploring lots of exciting terrain including a wonderful Tighten Up jam about 22 minute in. The explosion in St. Stephen is supplied by a drummer, I think, and you can hear Garcia and others on stage being blown away by it. At the transition out of the "high green chilly" part of Stephen into the Eleven, Garcia does a little vocalization that suggests to me he is ready to roll, and roll he does. There's a lot to love about this Eleven. To my ears, it's the hottest, tightest version, well elaborated (more than, say, '68 versions) but focused (more than, say, Februaury '69 versions)and powerful. The drummers and band get the little interlude of of the 1-2-3, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4-5BAM! drums runs almost Just Exactly Perfect, one of the only times they really nailed it. It's the combination of all those things that make me prefer it to the other great versions, including the 1/26/69 take on Live Dead. Finally, it's a great Lovelight. I love hearing the band members yell the song out to each other just before Phil drops his big fat bass line (beautifully full on this recording) and sets the stage for Pigpen.
I don't much from the rest of the show, because for over ten years I just keep returning to the Dark Star >> part. Outstanding. - January 13, 2012simply wonderful
Reviewer: cloudsplitter - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - January 2, 2012
Subject: All Of My Friends... What a great Dark Star! with an amazing jam out of the silence. I sure wish we had the transition into St. Stephen, but whatever, it's still a wave rider. And that fat Eleven for a new year present. Such fun! Just a great show all around. - January 2, 2012All Of My Friends...
Reviewer: Sollipsist - favorite favorite favorite favorite - September 28, 2010
Subject: Not sure what the rest of you are listening to, but... ...anyone reading these comments and then listening to this show is going to be disappointed. Not because of the audio quality (it's surprisingly good) and not because of the music (they were definitely ON that night), but because the very part that everybody seems to be gushing about is missing.
Yeah, maybe it was a great transition from Dark Star to St. Stephen, but you'll never know from this recording...because it cuts off right after Jerry starts singing in DS and doesn't pick up again until after the first verse of SS.
You'd think at least one of the comments would have mentioned it. Or even the original notes (you know, the ones that call it a "complete" show?). Oh well, it's still well worth your time anyway. Just don't be misled by the people who are commenting on the performance rather than the recording. - September 28, 2010Not sure what the rest of you are listening to, but...
Reviewer: gratedude69 - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - February 7, 2010
Subject: Mason's children they may never know so much agaiiin.
great tune, great show - February 7, 2010Mason's children
Reviewer: SkyDawg - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - June 8, 2009
Subject: Eternally Groovy
Excellent recording with TC mixed very loud for a change. Every instrument is clearly heard here. This show would be worth it all simply for the eternally "groovy" "Tighten Up" jam beginning at around 22:48 of Dark Star until the end of the song.Excellent recording with TC mixed very loud for a change. Every instrument is clearly heard here. - June 8, 2009Eternally Groovy
Reviewer: Lonely Visitor - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - February 23, 2009
Subject: Download To the kind soul asking about how to donwload... the answer is, err, you already did. If you stream the show and the song loads completely then it is **saved in your temporary internet folder** as a tasty mp3, so you own it now! - February 23, 2009Download
Reviewer: jasia52 - favorite favorite favorite favorite - September 7, 2008
Subject: First Show I attended the early show (my first for the Dead & the Fillmore East) and was excited by the band's performance after the opening acts (Lighthouse & Cold Blood). 1970 was a good year for the band when they broke into national recognition...great to have documentation of this performance! - September 7, 2008First Show
Reviewer: _August_West_ - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - September 6, 2008
Subject: Devo's Picks #1
Follow the tour: 1970
gratefuldeadlive.blogspot.com These two shows at the Fillmore East are not only fantastic shows, they represent the direction the band adopted throughout the early 70's with their folk-electric style. Aside from that, these shows truly establish the Working Man's Dead material which had been floating in throughout 69, as well as a resurgence of Motown and Blues which had taken a bit(bit) of a backseat during the late 60s. On top of which these shows mark, in my mind at least, the relationship which developed between the Dead and New York, whether at the Fillmore East or Capitol Theater in Port Chester. Whereas the 60's are dominated by San Francisco and the California area, New York is really where the Dead shined during 1970.Follow the tour: 1970 - September 6, 2008Devo's Picks #1
Reviewer: Darrylizer - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - July 3, 2008
Subject: Yowza, well recorded and what more needs to be said re the Dead in 70? This is a 4.5 star show only because some of the new songs (Cumberland Blues especially) are a tad flubulous. The beginning Zarathustra and initial bits of Masons' Children are from an aud source and the vocals all come out of the right channel (I nitpick, I know). But the good stuff is so good it more than makes up for a few minor mistakes or mix weirdness. The Hard To Handle is dynamite as is the long Love Light, Pig's on for this show. But hot damn, check out the incredible Dark Star, one of those cool 1970 versions where they bring it way down to silence and then build back up again, wow. Mix that with a killer Cryptical and a fine Masons' Children opener and you've got close to pure gold right here. I always loved the Dark Star> St. Stephen> The Eleven transition and I very much like Bob Weirs Monkey And Engineer sung to fill up some time due to technical difficulties. Like I said 4.5 stars warts and all, but it makes no sense to round down so I'm rounding up to 5. - July 3, 2008Yowza, well recorded and what more needs to be said re the Dead in 70?
Reviewer: chevyrsss - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - June 18, 2008
Subject: Does anyone know how to download these shows? can anyone help me download these shows? Are they legal to download and if so, how do I do it? Thank you - June 18, 2008Does anyone know how to download these shows?
Reviewer: nouryder - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - March 7, 2008
Subject: now,THIS is the SHIT!!!! ...the kind of show that the audience just sat there in shock at the end,in total awe and reverence...this is how the Legend was built! - March 7, 2008now,THIS is the SHIT!!!!
Reviewer: lemon lime partridge - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - September 21, 2007
Subject: the chewing gum river of NOW-land i can't believe this psychedelic space MONSTER dark star is in the middle of this show. this is the kind of dark star i stay up at night thinking about (yeah i stay up at night thinking about dark star). i was already head-over-heels for this show and now THIS! one of the brightest darkest stars i've ever heard...god bless the grateful dead, each and every one. other high-points: an absolutely rocking casey jones, short but poignant other one (poignant, what?), beautiful high time, lovelight is wow with a cool little call/answer with bobby. pig is ON! so, to sum up...rocking, spacey, poignant, beautiful, wow, ON! - September 21, 2007the chewing gum river of NOW-land
Reviewer: one toke over the line - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - August 20, 2007
Subject: as1307 great comments on the dark star couldnt have put it better myself.
no doubt the dark star>lovelight is 5 stars easily - August 20, 2007as1307
Reviewer: as1307 - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - July 14, 2007
Subject: "some easy listening music"
the early show is fairly typical, but the first thing striking if that the also sprach zarathustra intro is BADASS! things get much more interesting in the late show, with a great easy wind that has the band flexing their funk. some technical problems lead weir to tell a story with a solo guitar monkey and engineer. once the problems are resolved, weir offers us some "easy listening music" in the epic dark star that follows.
after a few minutes of typical but mellow jamming, the playing dissolves into a very minimal, but textural soundscape - echo, gong, bells, quiet feedback... chilling & foreboding. out of the silence garcia starts picking out a repetitive, eerie lick, with washes of organ providing accompaniment. everyone takes thier time, really feeling out this almost silent, spare section. a subtle re-entry to the dark star theme is followed immediately by an intoxicatingly sunny and optimistic happy groove. soon garcia strumms out a little cosmic charlie theme, and eventually the band launches into a full feelin' groovy jam. excellent, spirited playing which provides a nice resolution from the darker free-form section. st. stephen > eleven > lovelight follows. this fun lovelight features a super melodic, soulful little theme after pigpen's "tear this roof down" schpiel that just makes you want to scream! hell yea! (possibly what liamfinnegan describes as the franklin's tower tease below). the first show of 1970 is a monster, and a good omen of some amazing music to come in the next 4 years ( i.e ., the jams of '72-'74).the early show is fairly typical, but the first thing striking if that the also sprach zarathustra intro is BADASS! things get much more interesting in the late show, with a great easy wind that has the band flexing their funk. some technical problems lead weir to tell a story with a solo guitar monkey and engineer. once the problems are resolved, weir offers us some "easy listening music" in the epic dark star that follows.after a few minutes of typical but mellow jamming, the playing dissolves into a very minimal, but textural soundscape - echo, gong, bells, quiet feedback... chilling & foreboding. out of the silence garcia starts picking out a repetitive, eerie lick, with washes of organ providing accompaniment. everyone takes thier time, really feeling out this almost silent, spare section. a subtle re-entry to the dark star theme is followed immediately by an intoxicatingly sunny and optimistic happy groove. soon garcia strumms out a little cosmic charlie theme, and eventually the band launches into a full feelin' groovy jam. excellent, spirited playing which provides a nice resolution from the darker free-form section. st. stephen > eleven > lovelight follows. this fun lovelight features a super melodic, soulful little theme after pigpen's "tear this roof down" schpiel that just makes you want to scream! hell yea! (possibly what liamfinnegan describes as the franklin's tower tease below). - July 14, 2007"some easy listening music"
Reviewer: mpls music lover - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - July 13, 2007
Subject: agreed That jam during lovelight definately sounds like a very early franklin's tower rift.
The sound is very crip and jerry guitar is on this night! - July 13, 2007agreed
Reviewer: Laugh Riot - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - June 2, 2007
Subject: Dripping with shagadelics For the lucky who were there had to know that this band was turning into a monster. They were truly coming into their own and adding more music and style that no other band has matched yet. Stream this show and you will be looking for a way to copy this on disc. Very good, very mesmerizing. I think 1970 gets a little lost in the shuffle, sandwiched right between '69 and '72 makes it hard to get noticed. It does have it's special moments and deserves a worthy searching through. Start here and you will be glued to your seat for two hours. This show is amazing. - June 2, 2007Dripping with shagadelics
Reviewer: gruUbic - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - May 16, 2007
Subject: CUMBERLISIOUS! Wow – 5 star…is there anything the Fillmore Este can’t provide?? Sooooo CRISP
Thank you, Pig
JG
Philbert
Micky
Billiam
Bobby
Especially you, Uncle Bill
Tan BUENO, amigos!
(BTW, coolest Dire Wolf EVER?? Maybe, thanks to Pig's keys...jerr's licks...and...AND? --- Yeah, could very well be!)
RESPECT - May 16, 2007CUMBERLISIOUS!
Reviewer: moviefan322 - - March 15, 2007
Subject: how do i download this?!?!?! I neeeeeed to add some of these shows to my collection, and when i right click download it just opens in a new window can anybody help me please? - March 15, 2007how do i download this?!?!?!
Reviewer: NotJim - favorite favorite favorite favorite - November 28, 2006
Subject: The Shower Test... I really dig any song that i can play in my living room (nice and loud), step into the bathroom, shave, shower, and come back to catch the end of..
Killer Dark Star, really light hearted and optimistic jam. - November 28, 2006The Shower Test...
Reviewer: mid-maine - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - September 1, 2006
Subject: imagine hendrix played new year's and 1-1-70. was he back stage for this? did he hang with the dead here before moving on to other shows? i'll have to recheck all the lit.
to have attended the fillmore east twice over the span of that holiday weekend would have been mind boggling.
i can only imagine.
tasty licks. - September 1, 2006imagine
Reviewer: Liamfinnegan - favorite favorite favorite favorite - April 23, 2006
Subject: !5 minutes into Lovelight- Franklins Tower genesis Give it a listen- about 14 minutes 30 seconds minutes into the lovelite- the band starts riffing through a chordal progression that sound remarkably like the beginning of Franklins Tower- i do think the boys would go back and listen to jams and find good ideas for new songs- give it a listen and let me know. - April 23, 2006!5 minutes into Lovelight- Franklins Tower genesis
Reviewer: capn doubledose - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - March 25, 2006
Subject: Majestic Get past the crummy first couple of reel to reel songs also sprach zarastura is great James Brown was starting shows with this as well at that time.
ESSENTIAL+ - March 25, 2006Majestic
Reviewer: Commander68 - favorite favorite favorite favorite - March 20, 2006
Subject: Entrance music Who knew that when pro wrestler Ric Flair began using Also Sprach Zarathrustra as his entrance music, he was copying the Dead?! - March 20, 2006Entrance music
Reviewer: Bluerunner - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - March 7, 2006
Subject: Darker Star Very nice Dark star with some great exploration and outer explorations of the inner conciousness. Excellent jamming in the late set. - March 7, 2006Darker Star
Reviewer: Grateful Guy - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - January 6, 2006
Subject: Black Peter This show has the best Black Peter ever and my favourite Lovelight, so listen and get it one way or another!! - January 6, 2006Black Peter
Reviewer: sandi4129 - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - December 24, 2005
Subject: great jam What a great jam in the late set. Some of the songs sound slightly off key, but the jam in the late set is great. - December 24, 2005great jam
Reviewer: sandi4129 - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - December 24, 2005
Subject: great jam What a great jam in the late set. Some of the songs sound slightly off key, but the jam in the late set is great. - December 24, 2005great jam
Reviewer: familiarfan - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - December 11, 2005
Subject: excellent - December 11, 2005excellent
Reviewer: good juju - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - January 24, 2005
Subject: wow Best lovelight i have ever heard. pigpen is on, bobby is on, everybody is working to close the show with a bang. mission accomplished. DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW - January 24, 2005wow
Reviewer: samson - favorite favorite favorite favorite - December 23, 2004
Subject: Oh yea... What is it about the Dead and the first show of the year? They always seem to do it just exactly perfect. This one is no exception with hot versions of Masons, Casey, Hard to Handle, and Uncle Johns. The Other One is out there and really goes places, and High Time is very well executed. Probably my favorite version they did. The real gem of these shows is the Dark Star. Its way ahead of its time and gets very pretty and spacy (not in the way were all used to)before heading into some very tight playing. It may not be one to introduce people to the Dead and it may not be one you want to pull out when ever you want a fix of the Star, its more of those special occasion ones when your in the mood for something different...something out there. Eleven is hot too with lots of energy in this one. Flaws and all, this may be the show to throw in after New Years to wake you up and start it up all over again! Good start to the 70's! - December 23, 2004Oh yea...
Reviewer: MushroomEagle - favorite favorite favorite favorite - December 4, 2004
Subject: Acquired Taste... This show is an acquired taste. I've listened to some great Dark Stars in my time...this is probably the most unique. About 10 minutes of alien sounds....mostly silence - engulfs the beginning of the jam inbetween verses. BUT - once they come out of the trance....it is probably one of the HOTTEST jams i have ever heard the dead play PERIOD. just immaculate. And THEN the song goes into St. Stephen. THE funkiest St. Stephen ever. Just a great funky sound. The Eleven throws you into another universe. Show quality is not bad at all...and worth downloading for the third disk alone. - December 4, 2004Acquired Taste...
Reviewer: DeadDave - favorite - September 15, 2004
Subject: Vocals? Something wrong with vocals...much, much too low. - September 15, 2004Vocals?
Reviewer: erik-the-red - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - August 18, 2004
Subject: Spectacular I only have the third disc in hi-fi lossy, but that part of the show is just superb.
Amazing. - August 18, 2004Spectacular
Reviewer: erik-the-red - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - August 18, 2004
Subject: Spectacular I only have the third disc in hi-fi lossy, but that part of the show is just superb.
Amazing. - August 18, 2004Spectacular
|
Officials Upset Tech Companies Reluctant To Play Along With Administration's 'Information Sharing' Charade
from the fooling-no-one dept
U.S. government officials say privately they are frustrated that Silicon Valley technology firms are not obtaining U.S. security clearances for enough of their top executives, according to interviews with officials and executives in Washington and California. Those clearances would allow the government to talk freely with executives in a timely manner about intelligence they receive, hopefully helping to thwart the spread of a hack, or other security issues.
The lack of cooperation from Silicon Valley, Washington officials complain, injects friction into a process that everyone agrees is central to the fight to protect critical U.S. cyberinfrastructure: Real-time threat information sharing between government and the private sector.
"I believe that this is more about the overclassification of information and the relatively low value that government cyberintel has for tech firms," said one Silicon Valley executive. "Clearances are a pain to get, despite what government people think. Filling out the paper work … is a nightmare, and the investigation takes a ridiculous amount of time."
[...]
"I think tech companies are doing a return-on-investment analysis and don't think the government intel is worth the cost or effort," said the Silicon Valley executive. "This is why government threat signature sharing initiatives are such a nothing-burger: The signatures are of limited value and only a few select companies with clearances can actually use them."
Because it’s not just that the security clearance application that is unwieldy. It’s that clearance comes with a gag order about certain issues, backed by the threat of prison...
Why would anyone sign up for that if the tech companies have more that the government wants than the government has that the tech companies need?
The government's on-again, off-again love affair with everything cyber is back on again. The CIA has just shifted its focus, abandoning its position as the free world's foremost franchiser of clandestine torture sites and rebranding as the agency of choice for all things cyberwar-related For years, legislators have been attempting to grant themselves permission to strong-arm tech companies into handing over all sorts of information to the government under the guise of cybersecurity. CISPA CISA , etc. The acronyms come and go, but the focus is the same: information sharing.Of course, the promise of equitable sharing remains pure bullshit. Tech companies know this and have been understandably resistant to the government's advances. There are few, if any positives, to these proposed "agreements." The government gets what it wants -- lots and lots of data -- and the companies get little more than red tape, additional restrictions and fleeing customers The government has recently been playing up the narrative that unreasonable tech companies are standing in the way of the nation's super-secure future Before dealing with the questionable promise of "real-time threat information sharing," let's deal with the supposedly minor requirement of security clearances. It's not as if this won't impose undue burdens on tech company leaders, especially when they already have a pretty good idea this stipulation will be a major hassle followed by continued opacity from a government that's 90% lip service and 10% outright lying. Tech execs are being asked to make all the effort and hope against hope there will actually be some benefits.The clearance process can easily take over a year. The application runs 127 pages and asks a mixture of questions ranging from highly-intrusive to facially-ridiculous.[This question seems to disqualify nearly every law enforcement officer in the United States.]And that's just the start of the process. The rest of the vetting process takes several months, and there's no guarantee the executives the government wants to obtain clearance will actually be cleared to discuss classified information.And even if these clearances are obtained, the benefits are unproven and suspected to be minimal. On the other hand, the downsides are enormous. As Marcy Wheeler points out, clearancesopen up discussion channels with law enforcement and intelligence agencies, but they also create additional restrictions for those carrying these privileges -- the breach of which can result in severe consequences. In light of the inequitable "sharing" envisioned by many tech companies, the hassle just isn't worth it.On top of this, there's the bottom line to consider. The information that may or may not flow back to tech companies won't do much to offset the perception that company executives are willingly buddying up with the US intelligence community. In the post-Snowden world, this could mean the loss of customers, future contracts and sensitive foreign markets.The government has yet to offer anything Silicon Valley wants in exchange for additional burdens, greater secrecy and increased demands for customer data. The government is better at taking than it is at giving, and no amount of cyberterrorism hand-wringing is going to change that reality.
Filed Under: cybersecurity, information sharing, security clearance, silicon valley, tech industry, washington dc
|
If all goes well, expect another moon robot very soon. The Yutu (“Jade Rabbit”) rover will lift off from China as a part of the Chang’e-3 mission — target launch date Sunday (Nov. 29) — to explore the moon’s Sea of Rainbows after its scheduled landing two weeks later, Dec. 14.
There are other spacecraft orbiting the moon — including the newly launched LADEE from NASA, which is checking out the moon’s tenuous atmosphere — but if this mission succeeds, it would be the first soft landing since Russia’s Luna-24 in 1976. That’s a 37-year drought.
Recent English information on the mission is scarce, but it’s been widely reported that the mission will include a lander in a six-wheeled rover. This Chinese news agency notes that planners expect to put up an astronomical telescope, test remote control between the moon and the Earth, and explore areas around the landing location. You can also read (dated) background information on the mission on the Chinese National Space Administration’s website.
The European Space Agency (ESA), meanwhile, released a press update describing how people from its organization will help track the mission during its journey to the moon. The Europeans will be helping the Chinese track the mission all the way to the time it is expected to reach the surface. After the mission lands, ESA will use two antennas to perform a measurement intended to figure out — “with extreme accuracy”, the agency says — where the lander is located.
And for those who remember, a fun bit of history from 1969 recalled by the Planetary Society: during Apollo 11, the first manned mission to land on the moon, this ground-to-moon exchange actually happened:
Capcom: Roger. Among the large headlines concerning Apollo this morning, there’s one asking that you watch for a lovely girl with a big rabbit. An ancient legend says a beautiful Chinese girl called Chang-o has been living there for 4,000 years. It seems she was banished to the Moon because she stole the pill of immortality from her husband. You might also look for her companion, a large Chinese rabbit, who is easy to spot since he is always standing on his hind feet in the shade of a cinnamon tree. The name of the rabbit is not reported.
Buzz Aldrin, slated to be second man on the moon: Okay. We’ll keep a close eye out for the bunny girl.
|
All funding for environment programs to end, as Coalition focuses aid on countries it needs to support its asylum policy
Aid groups are accusing the Coalition of breaking an election commitment after it revealed their funding would be cut mid-year as part of a $650m reduction in the former government’s budgeted foreign aid spending, leaving 2013-14 spending $107m below what was spent last year.
Foreign minister Julie Bishop announced the cuts for the groups as well as a complete defunding of international environmental programs. The government is redirecting a pared back aid budget towards the region and maintenance of spending on countries such as Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Nauru, whose co-operation is necessary for the success of its asylum policy.
Organisations such as Care, Save the Children, Caritas, ChildFund, Plan International and the Fred Hollows Foundation – who have partnership agreements with the government – have had their current year funding cut by about 8%.
They say that means they are losing money already allocated to programs related to water and sanitation, elimination of violence against women, disaster reduction work and small-scale agriculture, among others.
The organisations say the cuts clearly break a Coalition promise not to cut their funding when it announced a $4.5bn cut to the aid budget over the next four years two days before the federal election.
At the time of that cut, the then shadow treasurer, Joe Hockey, and shadow finance spokesman, Andrew Robb, said “the Coalition will reprioritise foreign aid allocations towards non-government organisations that deliver on-the-ground support for those most in need”.
“That will also mean putting more money into NGOs who are on the ground and who can deliver aid more efficiently than through AusAID or indeed through some of the multilaterals that we’ve been putting money into in increasing numbers because AusAID cannot handle the increases in the budget,” then foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop said.
The government said it needed to redirect the $4.5bn towards domestic infrastructure. The cut was from projected expenditure – with the aid budget continuing to grow in line with inflation.
“Under the previous Labor government, the rapid growth in Australia’s aid budget was neither targeted nor sustainable ... This year’s aid expenditure will be $107m less than last year. From 2014-15 the $5bn aid budget will grow each year in line with the consumer price index,” Bishop said in a statement on Saturday, “confirming” the cuts after they were announced in the Australian newspaper.
She said the government would now consult NGOs and other governments to set benchmarks and stricter reporting standards to ensure future aid spending achieved its objectives.
Julia Newton Howes, chief executive of Care Australia, said her organisation had lost $500,000 from a $20m budget this year.
“This is for aid we had already programmed this financial year. We are now going to have to scramble to work out where we can cut,” she said.
Newton Howes, who is also vice-president of the Australian Council for International Development (Acfid) said it was “particularly disappointing that the government is making cuts it promised it would not make before the election”.
The government has minimised cuts for countries in the region and those involved in its asylum policy.
Aid funding to Indonesia is $532m, almost $50m more than it received last year, but about $60m less than promised by Labor. The $448m promised to Papua New Guinea has been retained. Nauru’s funding has also stayed the same.
The International Labor Organisation will now get no funding from Australia and detailed tables show international environmental programs, already pared back under Labor, will now also get no money.
The government has said it believes aid funding was skewed under the former Labor government as Australia made promises linked with its bid for a seat on the UN security council.
The cuts put Australia even further away from meeting the United Nations’ Millenium Development Goal of developed nations spending 0.7% of gross national income (GNI) in aid by 2015. Labor governments had already twice deferred Australia’s target of 0.5% of GNI by 2015. Bishop made no mention of the target in her statement.
She said she intended to “ensure the Australian aid budget is managed effectively and directed to organisations delivering on-the-ground support to those most in need”.
|
It's easy to fly, it takes normal petrol and it actually exists. Tom Lamont on the car many of us have only dreamed of
Those of us waiting patiently for the era of flying cars have been stung before. Usually by some delusional old tinkerer appearing on Tomorrow's World or Blue Peter, tantalisingly showing off some hovering hatchback or Cortina-with-wings and promising it'll be an everyday form of transport – soon. It never happens. As the characters in Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes comic strip complained way back in 1989: "A new decade is coming up. Big deal! Where are the flying cars?"
Finally, in 2011, some action. Later this year an American company called Terrafugia will go into "low volume production" on its Transition Roadable Aircraft – a genuine, non-delusional, you-can-actually-buy-it-and-it-actually-flies flying car. It looks a bit like the Ghostbusters' vehicle with fold-out wings, and will cost something between £125,000 and £160,000. Terrafugia CEO Carl Dietrich hopes to sell 200 a year.
"A lot of people said they never thought it would fly," Dietrich has said. "But we have a vehicle right here, right now that drives and flies, and converts between the two in 20 seconds."
Terrafugia (Latin for "escape from land") was founded by Dietrich and a team of pilots and aeronautics engineers. Partly funded by the US Department of Defence, they've been quietly beavering away on the car in Woburn, Massachussetts since 2006, and are almost ready to start selling.
Owners of a new Transition will need 20 hours of flying time on record before being allowed to unfurl the car's mechanical wings and take off, but it's easy to pilot once they do – or so says Colonel Phil Meeter, the first man to fly the Transition in tests over upstate New York in 2009. On landing he enthused: "My daughter could do this! Anyone can do it!" The retail machine will have a flight range of just less than 500 miles (enough to get from London to, say, Zurich) and will travel at speeds of up to 115mph.
This being an American firm, targeting American customers, Terrafugia's flying car is not without its luxuries. It has touch-screen controls in the cockpit, and the "cargo area holds golf clubs". With the wings in tucked-up mode the Transition can be filled up in any normal petrol station, and parked in any normal garage. It also has built-in parachutes. But let's not dwell on that.
|
The John Batchelor Show, June 7.
Nation contributing editor Stephen F. Cohen and John Batchelor continue their weekly discussions of the new US-Russian Cold War. (Previous installments are at TheNation.com). This installment returns to the large-scale NATO military buildup on Russia’s Western frontiers, again on land, sea, and in the air, now featuring Operation “Anaconda-2016,” an “exercise” involving more than 30,000 American and other NATO forces in Poland. Ad Policy
Batchelor asks whether alarmed warnings by informed analysts, including three longtime Russian residents in the United States, that actual war may be imminent are plausible. Cohen thinks this worst-case scenario cannot be ruled out, for several reasons. The NATO build up is not episodic but intended to grow and be permanent, and be ratified at the NATO summit in Warsaw in July. No such hostile forces have amassed on Russia’s Western frontiers—now from the Baltic to the Black Sea—since the Nazi German invasion in 1941. (The inclusion of a German contingent among the NATO forces has further awakened that memory in Russia.) The only explanation given by the US-led NATO is “Putin’s aggression” in Ukraine, but that was more than two years ago. (Claims that he is now menacing the small Baltic states and Poland are clearly without any basis in fact.) Not surprisingly, Cohen reports, Moscow is reinforcing its own conventional and strategic (probably nuclear) forces on its Western territories, bringing the two powers to a Cuban missile crisis–like confrontation. Even leaving aside accidental military acts, there are many other potential tripwires, from Ukraine and Turkey to Syria.
Astonishingly, this looming possibility of war with Russia has gone largely unreported and entirely undebated in mainstream American media. Neither Batchelor nor Cohen can think of a precedent for such a media blackout or indifference. The situation, according to Cohen, is quite different in Russia, where NATO’s buildup is hotly debated on, for example, prime-time television talk shows. Opinions vary as to the actual threat, but one growing opinion is that “a scent of a great war is in the air” and that Putin has not done enough to ready the country at home or abroad. Analogously, a leading Russian journalist publicly criticized the Kremlin for not having intervened militarily in Kiev in February 2014, when the ongoing crisis began with the overthrow of a pro-Russian Ukrainian president. That is, Putin also has a public opinion to consider as he decides how to react to NATO’s buildup.
|
Keyword Search Advanced Search Search books for: search tips Exact phrase: "dissent in america" Optional limits: From Publication Year: 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962 1961 1960 1959 1958 1957 1956 1955 1954 1953 1952 1951 1950 1949 1948 1947 1946 1945 1944 1943 1942 1941 1940 to 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962 1961 1960 1959 1958 1957 1956 1955 1954 1953 1952 1951 1950 1949 1948 1947 1946 1945 1944 1943 1942 1941 1940 Show all books public access books [?]
|
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Plans to build the first regulation baseball stadium in Israel have gathered steam in the wake of Team Israel’s surprisingly strong performance in the World Baseball Classic.
Members of Team Israel participated in the groundbreaking for the complex in Beit Shemesh, a city located near Jerusalem with a large ex-patriate American population. Most of the team roster was American Jewish players with major and minor league experience who came in December with their families to visit Israel and meet Israeli fans before representing the country in the international tournament.
It is one of several baseball fields being built in Israel through the Jewish National Fund’s Project Baseball.
Following Team Israel’s three victories in the first round of the World Baseball Classic and its win in the first game of the second round, the Beit Shemesh stadium project has received donations from around the world through a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign, bringing the total to $11,000 as of Tuesday morning. The goal is $850,000.
The city of Beit Shemesh provided the Israel Association of Baseball with the land for the complex, which will include a regulation-size baseball field for adult play and two smaller fields for youth baseball, batting cages, dugouts, lights and spectator stands.
The Israel Association of Baseball, founded in 1986 by a group of expatriate baseball enthusiasts living in Israel with the goal of promoting and teaching the game of baseball in Israel, has been renting local soccer fields for games and practices. It has about 1,000 participants throughout the country from Little League to adult.
|
This Wizards season has been bursting with firsts: the first division title since 1979, the first 47-win season in just as long, the first time earning home-court advantage in an opening-round playoff series in decades.
Now add a “last” to the list; this will be the last season Phil Chenier serves as the team’s primary game analyst for CSN. No replacement has yet been named, although the network has identified a handful of candidates and expects to audition them during the offseason.
This isn’t your run-of-the-mill broadcasting transaction; it’s a seismic change involving the only full-time color television analyst in Wizards franchise history. Chenier, the dean of Washington game broadcasters, got the Bullets color job without an audition when Home Team Sports began its first full season of coverage in 1984. (Wes Unseld had been HTS’s television analyst for its less robust schedule the previous season.) And then Chenier stuck, through 33 seasons.
In the process, he became a friendly constant for Washington fans through decades of mostly disappointment: always genial, always smiling, never angry, never cynical. If there are any men more closely associated with this franchise’s history than Chenier, you could count them on one hand.
This summer, though, with Chenier’s contract set to expire, executives at CSN decided they should seek a fresh voice, although the decision didn’t become public until this week. Working with Monumental Sports & Entertainment, they created a new job for Chenier spanning multiple organizations. He’ll be a CSN studio analyst on pre- and postgame shows and other content, will sit in on occasional three-man booths, will do on-air work with Monumental Sports Network (including content focused around the upcoming 40th anniversary of the team’s only title), and will serve as an alumni ambassador and a representative for the team’s alumni operation. He’ll remain on the broadcasts through the rest of this season, and for CSN’s first-round playoff broadcasts.
Chenier, 66, said in an interview this week that he would have enjoyed remaining on the game broadcasts. But if you think his message would be one of bitterness or disappointment, you probably haven’t spent much time around Phil Chenier.
“You know, at some point, in some kind of way, this was gonna come to an end. I’m glad it’s not because I’m dying or something,” he quipped. “It’s a company decision, and they were gracious enough to have me stay around and do some other things to stay involved. Everybody has to come to the realization that all good things must end.”
Drafted by the Baltimore Bullets out of California in the 1971 hardship draft, Chenier became one of the greatest shooters in franchise history. He averaged at least 12 points in each of his first seven seasons, was the second-leading scorer on the 1975 team that advanced to the NBA Finals, twice finished in the top 12 of MVP voting, and remains in the franchise’s all-time top 10 in points, games, minutes, field goals, free throws, assists and steals.
“Phil had special gifts that no one else in the league had at that time,” teammate Kevin Grevey once said.
A back injury eventually derailed his career, keeping him sidelined when the Bullets finally won a title in 1978, and after bouncing around the league, he retired in 1981 at the age of 30. His plan had been to move home to northern California, but his kids were comfortable in the D.C. suburbs, and a young James Brown helped Chenier get a gig announcing local college games. Soon after, he latched on with Home Team Sports, and generations of Washington sports fans came to know him more as a smiling face on television than as a deadly shooter.
Chenier’s partnership with play-by-play man Steve Buckhantz, formed in 1997, only enhanced his stature. The two became inseparable, with Chenier serving as the best man at Buckhantz’s wedding, and their on-air chemistry and frequent laughs reflected that friendship. It’s incredibly jarring to think of Buckhantz introducing a different partner next fall.
“I’ll be critiquing him quite heavily,” Chenier joked of Buckhantz. “But we’re friends for life, so I don’t see that changing at all.”
The analyst said he isn’t sure what next season will be like. “After 30-something years, it’ll be curious to me, too,” he said. He said he hadn’t spent much time thinking about the end of his game broadcaster career, and that calling games this season didn’t feel different from the seasons that came before.
“But now, as it’s winding down, I guess I’ve thought a lot about it,” Chenier said, pointing out that last week was his final West Coast swing with the team. “And yeah, I got a little melancholy.”
Chenier also said he didn’t consider walking away next season, since “I liked the idea of being with both of these entities that I’ve been with most of my adult life.” He said he’d be happy to offer guidance to the second full-time TV color man in Wizards history, although “a lot of times people want to try and go through these new waters by themselves,” he said. And he still seemed either uncertain about or uncomfortable with his importance to this fan base over four decades.
“I guess I haven’t looked at it quite from that perspective,” he said. “Sometimes I guess we fail to see the kind of connection we make. Because we’re on the TV, but we’re not really — at least me — not really understanding the full impact of reaching out to thousands of people.”
So we’ll let others say it then.
“We have been honored to have Phil represent us with the utmost class as an ambassador on the court, over the airwaves and in the community for 42 years,” Wizards majority owner Ted Leonsis said in a statement. “We thank him for his unparalleled contributions to our team and his unique ability to maintain relevance and be in tune with multiple generations of our fans over his career as a player and a broadcaster. I look forward to working with him for many years to come.”
“Phil epitomizes professionalism and class as an analyst, colleague, mentor and advocate for the Wizards and the sport of basketball in this region,” CSN Mid-Atlantic President Rebecca Schulte said, also in a statement. “His impact over more than three decades with the network and 40–plus years with the team is unmatched, and we look forward to his contributions in new roles.”
For this viewer — an out-of-towner who’s seen modest Wizards peaks surrounded by unfortunate valleys over the last 2o years — Chenier came to represent the best of the Wizards fan base: good humor, no pretense and an utter love for the game of basketball. I can’t imagine turning on a Wizards broadcast and not hearing his voice.
While CSN hasn’t released its potential candidates, a number of prominent former Bullets/Wizards players have gone into broadcasting in recent years, including Chris Webber, Antawn Jamison, Brendan Haywood and Antonio Daniels.
|
After six hours of playing games made in this year’s Seven Day First-Person Shooter Challenge, I realised my plan to compress everything I liked into one single article or video was slightly silly. Folks made 145 games last week, for goodness’ sake! I’ll look at a few, one game at a time, then. Some made shooting a gun and killing someone feel awful. Some played around with fun new ideas for first-person shooting. Some did away with guns all together. And then there’s GAME OF THE YEAR: 420BLAZEIT vs. xxXilluminatiXxx [wow/10 #rekt edition]. Let’s start with Andy Sum’s parody of frag montage videos, the most brash and shooty-shooty of 7DFPS games.
Killing enemies sparks captions, coloured lights, raining dollar bills, and animated gifs filling your view while it blasts obnoxious sound clips and dubstep. It is so very loud and obnoxious, and that’s entirely the point. I haven’t shown the whole game in this video, so imagine what other wonders await you. (And yes, I do realise my rambling is drowned out by the noise at times.)
It’s not quite a parody of montages, inspired more by a community which started with parodies of ‘pro gaming culture’ but has since tumbled down a rabbit hole of its own memes and inside jokes. That makes the offensive bits a mite unpleasant to me, as it seems to be repeating them because it finds them funny more than it’s meaningfully parodying them. Ironic awfulness is tricky to nail. But hey! While the jokes can fall flat in isolation, taken as one single experience, GAME OF THE YEAR: 420BLAZEIT vs. xxXilluminatiXxx [wow/10 #rekt edition] is a remarkable sensory overload.
|
After getting kicked out of her prom for wearing a suit, Aniya Wolf may be going to Hollywood, so to speak.
Wolf, a junior at Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg, told WHTM-TV earlier in May she's a lesbian and she was booted from her school dance because she wore a suit. The school said parents were aware of the dress code, which requires all girls to wear a formal dress.
Her story went viral, even drawing props from Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, who said, "I love your suit!"
Now, it's Philly native and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" creator Rob McElhenney who is showing Wolf some love — and a casting request.
McElhenney took to Twitter Tuesday asking Wolf to make an appearance on his FXX comedy series. Wolf thought he must be joking, but "Mac" was serious (h/t BillyPenn):
How will Wolf — and her suit — be featured on the show? Who knows, maybe she'll get a sweet limo ride...
|
The chairman of the Republican National Committee released a statement Friday night, hours after The Washington Post posted an audio file with Donald J. Trump talking to Access Hollywood, speaking with direct language about his pursuit of a married woman and the advantages of being a celebrity.
“No woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner. Ever,” read the statement from Reince Priebus sent out by the RNC, without any other quotes or commentary.
Trump, who was wearing a live wireless mic as part of his segment on the program, is heard saying: “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the p%ssy. You can do anything.”
One of the show’s hosts, Billy Bush, is also on the tape, which captured the two men bantering on a shuttle bus that took them to the set of the soap opera Days of Our Lives, on which Trump was making a cameo appearance.
Throughout the conversation, Bush is heard laughing along with Trump and joining in the conversation’s flow.
In addition to off-color language and subject matter, Trump describes to Bush his unsuccessful courtship of a married woman in Palm Beach, whom Trump took furniture shopping and to whom he dedicated time and attention but was unable to seduce. “I’ll failed. I admit it.”
The Trump campaign released its own statement attributed to the New York City developer: “This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course – not even close. I apologize if anyone was offended.”
For Priebus, the controversy comes on the eve of a personal triumph. After months of awkwardness, the RNC chairman, a native of Wisconsin, was going to witness the first time Trump would be joined on the campaign trail with the chairman’s fellow Badger Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R.-Wis.), along with Sen. Ron Johnson (R.-Wis.), who has also dealt with Trump from a distance.
|
Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario. Joseph Vidal, Malacañang Photo Bureau
MANILA - The non-mention of the Philippines' arbitration win against China in the draft ASEAN chairman's statement is "disappointing" and may reflect "absence of desired leadearhip," former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario said Wednesday.
Del Rosario believes the draft's treatment of the developments in the disputed areas in the South China Sea shows that there is a "minimum expectation of positive leadership" to be attributed to the Philippine chairmanship of the ASEAN.
"The draft of the Chairman’s Statement is deeply disappointing and, if not revisited, would manifest an absence of the desired leadership," he said in a statement.
The Philippines, which chairs the 10-member ASEAN this year, wants to underscore in its chairman's message the importance of "peace, stability, security, and freedom of navigation," and would urge all sea claimants to settle territorial disputes in a peaceful manner, the draft chairman's statement shows.
The Philippines, based on the draft chairman's statement, shares the "serious concern expressed by some leaders over recent developments and escalation of activities in the area."
"We were pleased with the progress to complete a framework of the Code of Conduct (COC), in order to facilitate the early adoption of the COC within the ASEAN-China process," it said.
Manila scored a victory against Beijing last year when the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration said China had no historic rights over the resource-rich South China Sea.
Beijing, however, refused to recognize the ruling.
President Rodrigo Duterte, who was weeks into office when the court decision was out, has thawed the Philippines' relations with China, which were frozen when his predecessor took the Asian economic giant to court.
He visited Beijing in October last year where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and secured an estimated $24 billion in trade and investment pledges.
His foreign affairs officials, however, assured that the administration will raise the arbitral ruling at the right time.
Del Rosario, in a forum Tuesday, said the Philippines should include the arbitral ruling in the ASEAN summit agenda as it is an "integral part" of the framework of the code of conduct in the disputed area.
He also urged ASEAN members to unite and protest China's activities in the South China Sea.
|
Michael David Minor (born December 26, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Atlanta Braves, who selected him seventh overall in the 2009 MLB Draft, and the Kansas City Royals.
Early life [ edit ]
Minor had an outstanding high school career at Forrest School in Chapel Hill, Tennessee and was drafted in the 13th round of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays after his senior season. However, he did not sign, choosing to attend Vanderbilt University.[1]
College career [ edit ]
Minor played at Vanderbilt University with fellow major leaguers Pedro Alvarez of the Pittsburgh Pirates and David Price of the Boston Red Sox, all of whom were first round draft picks.
2007 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American
2007 Rivals.com Freshman All-American
2007 SEC All-Freshman Team
2007 SEC Freshman of the Year
2007 Second Team All-SEC
2008 Best pitcher Haarlem Baseball Week
2008 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Second Team Pre-season All-America Team [2]
2009 Louisville Slugger Second Team Pre-season All-American [3]
2009 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Second Team Pre-season All-America Team [4]
2009 SEC Pitcher of the Week – Week 8
United States National Team [ edit ]
Minor pitched for the United States National Team (Collegiate) in 2007 and 2008.
One highlight of the 2008 season was his earning the 4–1 win over Cuba in the championship game of the Haarlem Baseball Week tournament in The Netherlands. This victory marked the first time in recorded history that a United States Collegiate National Team has defeated the Cuba Olympic Team in a tournament title game. In the 2008 World University Baseball Championship held in Brno, Czech Republic, Minor led Team USA to its third gold medal alongside Stephen Strasburg. In the tournament, he was 1–0 with a 1.15 ERA and 16 strikeouts, allowing 8 hits in 152⁄ 3 innings for Team USA.
2008 Baseball America’s Summer Player of the Year
Professional career [ edit ]
Atlanta Braves [ edit ]
Minor was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the first round (7th overall) in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft.[5] and represented the United States in the 2010 All-Star Futures Game.
Minor made his major-league debut on August 9, 2010 against the Houston Astros. He recorded his first strikeout against Chris Johnson. On the night, he went 6 innings giving up 5 hits and 4 runs (3 earned) while walking only 1 and striking out 5 batters; he got no decision. In his next start on August 17, 2010, Minor went 6 innings giving up 5 hits and 2 earned runs and got his first major league victory. Then, in his third career start against the Chicago Cubs, Minor went 6 innings giving up 3 earned runs while striking out 12 and earning his second career victory. Those 12 strikeouts set an Atlanta Braves rookie strikeout record in a single game; surpassing Tommy Hanson's 11 strikeouts in 2009. On August 18, 2011, in a game against the San Francisco Giants, Minor pitched six scoreless innings including facing the minimum number of batters over the last four innings. This victory was the first time in 17 major league starts that Minor did not give up a run.[6] On May 25, 2013, Minor hit his first career home run off Dillon Gee of the New York Mets in a 6–0 win.[7] On August 22, 2014, Minor pitched 7 2⁄ 3 no-hit innings, before giving up an RBI single to the Reds' Billy Hamilton. The Braves eventually won the game in the 12th inning on Justin Upton's two-run home run.[8] Minor finished the 2014 season with a 6–12 record and 4.77 ERA, pitching most of the year with a sore shoulder.[9][10] In 2015, Minor became the first Brave since John Rocker in 2001 to challenge the team in an arbitration hearing. He won and was awarded $5.6 million.[11] On March 3, 2015, Minor again began feeling tightness in his shoulder[12] and was diagnosed with rotator cuff inflammation.[13] As a result, he was placed on the disabled list on March 10.[14] Minor attempted to start throwing programs in mid-March[15] and early April,[16] but felt discomfort both times. He was moved to the 60-day disabled list on May 2.[17] Eleven days later, Minor underwent surgery for a torn labrum, and missed the rest of the season.[18]
Minor became a free agent on December 2, 2015, when the Braves opted not to tender him a contract.[19]
Kansas City Royals [ edit ]
Minor signed a two-year contract with the Kansas City Royals worth $7.25 million with a club option worth $10 million for the 2018 season on February 19, 2016.[20]
Minor began the 2016 season on the 60-day disabled list, still recovering from his previous shoulder surgery, and did not throw a pitch in the Majors for the entire year.
Because of his troubles staying healthy, the Royals announced that Minor would pitch out of the bullpen in 2017.[21] A move to relief brought tremendous results for Minor, who saw his average fastball velocity climb to nearly 95 miles per hour, compared to 91 miles per hour as a starter. Minor would emerge as one of the Royals best relievers, finishing with a 2.55 ERA and six saves, with 88 strikeouts in 77 2/3 innings. Despite his success out of the bullpen, Minor intends to return to starting in 2018.[22]
Texas Rangers [ edit ]
On December 4, 2017, Minor signed with the Texas Rangers to a three-year, $28 million deal.[23]
Pitch repertoire [ edit ]
Minor leads with a four-seam fastball at 89–93 mph, a pitch he throws more than half the time. In relatively equal amounts he throws a slider (83–86), a circle change (82–84), and a knuckle curve (77–80).[24] Left-handed hitters rarely see the changeup, especially with 2 strikes. The curve has a whiff rate of 39% over Minor's career.[25] He has produced one of the league's lowest ground ball/fly ball ratios since he debuted.[26][27]
|
WASHINGTON -- At least three of the Wisconsin state Senate Republicans currently demanding that public workers sacrifice benefits, wages and even collective bargaining rights for the sake of the budget have applied for and received hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal farm subsidies, a Huffington Post review of state and federal records shows.
From 1995 through 2009, state Sens. Luther Olsen, Dale Schultz and Sheila Harsdorf all had stakes in farms that received between them more than $300,000 in taxpayer funds.
Those federal appropriations had no direct impact on the state’s current budget woes, but the cash spent on those subsidies, which went to support a range of functions -- from soybean production to small hog operations -- could have been used elsewhere, perhaps even in Wisconsin. More than that, critics say, it muddles the notion, pushed by these lawmakers and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), that only they are serious about reining in an overextended, overspent government.
“Members of both parties ... preach fiscal austerity all the time, but then when it comes to farm subsides going to farmers in their districts, they think the spigot should remain wide open,” said Don Carr, a spokesman and policy adviser for the Environmental Working Group, which tracks and critiques federal farm subsidies.
As Carr acknowledged, there is more than a little irony in the use of government largess by the same senators now demanding that public workers tighten their belts.
Farm subsidies have long been criticized by conservatives and progressives alike as a clear waste of taxpayer money, but supporters of federal farm policy and less partial observers caution that for small farms, taxpayer help is key to survival. In the case of the Wisconsin state legislators, the farms in question seem to be primarily family operations.
On his 2011 financial disclosure form -- obtained by The Huffington Post via a records request with the State of Wisconsin Government Accountability Board -- Olsen lists Riverview Farm in the town of Waushara as a business interest. There are a number of other Olsens listed as partners, with Luther Olsen claiming a 20 percent stake. According to the Environmental Working Group, Riverview Farm in Waushara County has received $58,502 subsidies from 1995 to 2009. Another Riverview Farm in nearby Portage County received $25,730, though there is no word as to whether this is a related entity.
Olsen lists Sunflower Farm, also in Waushara, among his business activities, as well. That farm received $2,193 in federal subsidies in 1996. The senator’s ownership stake there is 8.3 percent.
Several phone calls to Olsen’s office were not returned.
On his 2011 financial disclosure form, Schultz lists the “Schultz Family Farm” in Sauk County as a business activity. According to the Environmental Working Group, a Dale W. Schultz in Sauk County has been paid $61,171 from in farm subsidies from 2000 to 2009.
Several calls to Schultz's office were not returned.
Harsdorf does not list any farms on her 2010 personal financial disclosure form. But her earlier filings have listed a personal business stake in Trim-Bel Valley Farms, according to records compiled by the Center for Public Integrity.
Trim-Bel Valley Farms is based in Pierce County – Harsdorf’s home. And according to the Environmental Working Group, one Sheila E. Harsdorf had a 50 percent ownership stake in the farm as of 2008. The farm received $194,763 in federal subsidies from 1995 through 2005.
Several calls to Harsdorf's office were not returned.
That local lawmakers are benefiting from federal farm subsidies is nothing new. In South Dakota and Idaho, both Republican and Democratic state Senators have worked in the field when not legislating. Some state legislative calendars have even been designed to accommodate key farming seasons, Carr said.
|
Sacha Baron Cohen’s character Borat had a knack for producing hilarious reactions from strangers thanks to his outrageous behavior, but Cohen likely didn’t expect the reaction he received from the FBI.
While appearing on WTF with Marc Maron, Cohen went into the history of making both Borat and Bruno, including the surprising amount of legal trouble he ran into in particular with that first film.
Cohen recalled filming Borat and riding around in the character’s vehicle of choice, an ice cream truck, with Borat’s producer Azamat (Ken Davitian).
“[The FBI] got so many complaints there was a terrorist traveling in an ice cream van,” Cohen explained. “So the FBI got so many complaints that they started compiling a little file on us and eventually they came to visit us at the hotel. I obviously went missing when I heard because they were like ‘FBI’s downstairs. Sacha, disappear.'”
RELATED: 15 podcasts you need to hear in 2016
But that wasn’t the only time Cohen had run-ins with the law while making his films. He recounted a number of other incidents, which often resulted in him, his crew, and even his wife, Isla Fisher, having to flee whatever state they’re in. The actor didn’t always make it away unscathed, however.
“We hire a guy and his job is, he’s a bit like [The Brothers Grimsby‘s] Nobby, actually… his job is to prevent me from being arrested,” he explained after saying Kansas police had already warned the Bruno movie crew that he would be arrested should anything happen. Of course, during filming, the cops were called, and this bodyguard directed Cohen to jump out a window to avoid them, causing him to break his heel and temporarily shut down production on the film.
Listen to the full episode to hear more from Cohen about the many legal issues he’s faced during his many films, including even former Prime Minister Tony Blair having to call the actor because of how Borat strained England’s ties with Kazakhstan. Cohen can next be seen in The Brothers Grimsby, which hits theaters on March 11.
|
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton attempted Wednesday to pre-empt Donald Trump’s visit to Mexico later in the day, telling an American Legion convention in Cincinnati Trump could not undo a year of insults in a few hours.
“It certainly takes more than trying to make up for a year of insults and insinuations by dropping in on our neighbors for a few hours and then flying home again. That is not how it works,” said Clinton, whose main achievement as Secretary of State was the sheer number of her foreign visits.
The bulk of Clinton’s speech was a confused, incoherent muddle of talking points, at times contradictory. For example, she mocked Trump for calling the military a “disaster” — by which he meant the poor condition of the armed forces — and then called for the U.S. to “modernize” the military, effectively conceding Trump’s point.
At times, Clinton seemed to be arguing for a third term for President Barack Obama, touting his supposed accomplishments in foreign policy, including the Iran deal. She painted a picture of a world, and a nation, in far better shape than in 2009 — a far distance from how most Americans view the direction in which the country is heading. She talked about her role in the Osama bin Laden raid, which was mostly that of an observer — and, of course, made no mention of her role in Libya, or in Benghazi.
The confused tone of the speech, however, suggests that the Clinton campaign does not know how to counter Trump’s visit. Less than a week after she called him a bigot and likened him to the Ku Klux Klan, he will be welcomed by a Mexican leader who once made the same claims but has since backed away from them. While she faces new revelations about her destroyed emails, he is playing the statesman abroad.
Clinton still has her lead in the polls, but what she lacks, dangerously, is a message.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. His new book, See No Evil: 19 Hard Truths the Left Can’t Handle, is available from Regnery through Amazon. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
|
Ray Whitney is calling it a career.
The 42-year-old forward has announced his retirement from professional hockey after recording 385 goals and 679 assists in 1,330 games with eight different NHL clubs.
'The Wizard' made the announcement in the following statement, reports Pierre LeBrun of ESPN:
For the past 23 years, I have had the privilege of earning my living playing hockey in the National Hockey League . Along the way, I have made countless memories and friendships, which I will always cherish. Every city I played in, the fans welcomed my family and me with open arms, and I couldn’t be more thankful for that. I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of my teammates and coaches, especially the 2006 Stanley Cup team in Carolina.
A two-time 32-goal scorer, Whitney set a career high in points as member of the Carolina Hurricanes during the 2006-07 season after registering 15 points in 24 playoff games en route top a Stanley Cup the previous spring.
He last appeared in the NHL as a member of the Dallas Stars in 2013-14, scoring nine goals and adding 23 assists.
|
Having wrapped up the tournament on the previous day, Yokozuna Kakuryu provides us with a last bit of entertainment in the final bout of the tournament. He meets Ozeki Takayasu in the center of the ring and immediately falls victim to Takayasu’s powerful tachiai. Kakuryu tries for a few moments to push back against the furious Ozeki, but soon resorts to pulling on his head and running backwards. Takayasu follows and launches forward, pushing Kakuryu right to the edge of the ring but falling down in the process. The judges want to talk about the ref’s decision in favor of Kakuryu, and a lengthy conference ensues. After much discussion, the announcement is made: Kakuryu’s heel touched out at the same time that Takayasu hit the dirt, so let’s have a rematch! The do-over starts much the same way as the first time around, with Takayasu knocking Kakuryu back off his line. The difference this time is that Takayasu doesn’t fall down. He bulls Kakuryu around the ring and keeps his feet under him, being extra careful to stop his momentum at the ring’s edge to send Kakuryu packing without ever being in danger himself. Takayasu finishes with a record of 12-3, runner-up for the second consecutive tournament. Kakuryu wins his fourth-ever championship with a record of 13-2.
|
Home prices near a double dip
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- January home prices fell for the sixth month in a row, edging closer to a double dip.
The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index covering 20 major markets fell 3.1% year-over-year, hovering near the market's bottom set in April 2009.
"January brings us weakening home prices with no real hope in sight for the near future," says David M. Blitzer, a spokesman for S&P.
The dismal report followed other negative housing market indicators recently. Sales of existing homes were off nearly 10% in February and new homes sales were at a record low.
"The housing market recession is not yet over," said Blitzer, "and none of the statistics are indicating any form of sustained recovery. At most, we have seen all statistics bounce along their troughs; at worst, the feared double-dip recession may be materializing."
Pat Newport, a housing market analyst for IHS Global Insight sees little prospect of a turnaround.
"There's just a lot of inventory glut out there," he said, "and that's why housing prices are dropping. The low prices help clear out the glut."
Anthony Sanders, director of Real Estate Entrepreneurship at George Mason University, pointed out that home prices have fallen despite extremely low interest rates, which have dramatically reduced monthly mortgage costs for buyers.
"If interest rates climb, that could be the tipping point into the double dip," he said.
Eighteen of the 20 markets covered by the survey recorded year-over-year price declines. Washington, D.C., reported the only substantial increase, up 3.6%, while San Diego edged 0.1% higher.
Prices fell 9.1% in Phoenix, compared with January, 2010, more than any of the other markets covered. Detroit dropped 8.1% and Minneapolis fell 7.6%.
Newport expects the price drops to continue most of the year, and says that it's only a matter of time before the market enters a double dip.
"I think prices will drop another 5% to 10%," he said. "The double dip will hit in the next couple of months."
|
“Making a Murderer” has dominated conversations and headlines for nearly three months now, but a new ratings report proves that you don’t need to have a ton of viewers to start building that hype.
For “Making a Murderer,” Netflix’s docuseries about the trial and conviction of Steven Avery in the 2005 murder of a female photographer, the viewership was slow at first.
Netflix is famously guarded about its viewing numbers, but Symphony Advanced Media looks at a sample of users to measure numbers for Netflix and other streaming services that stay quiet about their ratings.
Symphony told Ad Week that only 565,000 average adult viewers watched each episode of “Making a Murderer” when it was released on December 18.
A huge ratings leap for “Making a Murderer”
After its first week, the audience for “Making a Murderer” jumped to 2.3 million viewers. In 14 days, it went to 5.5 million. And by 35 days, 19.3 million viewers watched the series. This reflects a huge boost in viewership as word of mouth and the media surrounding the series increased.
For comparison, using other numbers from Symphony, Netflix’s “Marvel’s Jessica Jones” averaged 8.8 million viewers in the 35-day period. Amazon’s “Man in the High Castle” clocked 3.4 million, and “Transparent” was viewed by 2.1 million.
Nielsen doesn’t report ratings 35 days out, but we took the average daily viewership of “Making a Murderer’s” 35-day window and translated that into live plus seven days, so we can roughly compare it to other TV programs.
Here are some rough comparisons to broadcast shows around the same time period (live plus seven days):
“Jane the Virgin” (The CW) — 1.6 million viewers
“World’s Funniest” (Fox) — 1.9 million viewers
“Making a Murderer” (Netflix) — 3.9 million viewers
“20/20” Friday (ABC) — 4.0 million viewers
“MasterChef” Junior (Fox) — 5.6 million viewers
For the record, Netflix chief Ted Sarandos defended the media company’s ratings secrecy last month at the Television Critics Association press tour by arguing that ratings don’t matter in the streaming business, where revenue is generated from subscribers and not advertising.He also called Symphony’s ratings numbers, which were previously presented in an NBC ratings panel at TCA, “remarkably inaccurate.”
Business Insider Emails & Alerts Site highlights each day to your inbox. Email Address Join
Follow Business Insider Australia on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
|
NEPD Editor: Oliver Thomas
Efficient and prolific are seldom seen in the same sentence.
Tom Brady was both against the Chicago Bears on Sunday. The 37-year-old quarterback operated a short-tempered New England Patriots offense with brevity on the way to completing 30 passes for 354 yards and five touchdowns.
In doing so, the 14-year pro crossed all three passing thresholds for the third time in his career and first time since 2007, according to Pro Football Reference.
Brady could have crossed more had he stayed in for the final 5:15, only New England’s collective performance at Gillette Stadium did not require him to. The offensive line preserved ground, the rushing committee gained ground, and the defense broke ground, affording second-round quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo a call from the bullpen with a 25-point lead in hand.
And with that, after 68 snaps of command, No. 12 headed to the dugout just shy of pitching all nine innings. He headed off without that final strikeout to seal it all into memory. But he didn’t need it; Brady’s 100th regular-season start in Foxborough was a near-perfect game to those who saw it.
Five incompletions over his 35 attempts were all that stood in the way.
Brady worked the short game, going 4-of-5 on quick screens that began behind the line of scrimmage. He worked the intermediate, going 17-of-21 on throws that traveled under 10 yards through the air past the line. And he worked the ball beyond the markers, going a perfect 9-of-9 on throws over 10 yards.
The six recipients amassed the rest, picking up 162 yards after the catch.
Yet there is something to be said for the position they were put in to do so. Brady threw his targets into their respective runways down the field. He led them in their routes, even when the yards after weren’t necessary on four touchdowns down in the red zone.
It was there, inside the Chicago 20-yard line, that Brady hit Rob Gronkowski for two of the “Y” tight end’s three scores. And it was there that he hit “F” tight end Tim Wright and “X” wideout Brandon LaFell for two more. All of which took place from the left hash marks to the boundary line, yet all of which were rooted in the same anticipation and touch to connect.
It was a similar case for the ones that didn’t connect.
Brady’s 30-of-35 game brought an 85.7 completion percentage along with it. Even so, those three digits also bring context. And it’s because even the five throws that weren’t there almost were.
The first of which arrived with under six minutes to go in the first quarter, a 1st-and-10 throw to Shane Vereen out of a play-action fake reverse. The tailback swung up the right sideline, and Brady found him six yards deep.
Chicago’s Tim Jennings closed from four yards deep as Vereen harnessed the football.
But before the cornerback could make his presence felt physically, he already did visually. Vereen’s eyes glanced up as the ball fell down, ending Brady’s completion streak at four with a drop.
He and the offense would start another one, landing the next five throws before a defensive pass interference call on Bears corner Al Louis-Jean wiped out an incompletion to LaFell.
In the books, however, Brady and the offense went on to complete nine straight, prior to a 2nd-and-14 with 4:38 left in the second quarter. Under those circumstances, the Patriots turned to three receivers and “11” personnel, while Brady turned to Julian Edelman.
Yet the flanker receiver did not turn back to him. Whether it was a miscommunication on the depth of the comeback route, or an early throwaway after less than two seconds in the pocket, the result was the same.
Three plays later, following a 17-yard toss to Gronkowski and a 17-yard run by halfback Jonas Gray, Brady was looking for different results when he went back to Edelman.
On a 1st-and-10 from the 50, the nine-time Pro Bowler handled the snap and immediately released it to the 100-catch, 1,000-yard receiver, who was slipping out of the slot on a quick screen.
Yet as that screen got underway and the ball got into Edelman’s upward palms, it soon flipped out.
Even so, the drop did not stall New England’s movement. Brady proceeded to find his route-runners for two touchdowns before one of his passes found the turf again.
It was 1st-and-10 with 13:26 remaining in the third frame when one did. Brady took the shotgun snap at midfield after making a check at the line. Concurrently, Edelman released from the slot on a five-yard out.
He planted back to the ball as he crossed the numbers, clutching the pass at his waist as he lifted his front leg to point upfield.
The order of operations hindered Edelman from holding onto the ball. It dropped out of his grasp before Louis-Jean and linebacker Shea McClellin intruded.
Two plays later, Gronkowski broke across the middle and caught a pass 12 yards past the line of scrimmage, ultimately taking it 34 more yards for his second career three-touchdown game.
The Patriots took a 45-7 lead with 12:32 left in the third as a byproduct. It wasn’t until the score read 45-15, with 10:08 to play in the fourth, that New England would concede another incompletion.
It was 3rd-and-6 inside Chicago’s own 10.
Vereen, aligned wide right, motioned inward as Brady retrieved the snap from fourth-round center Bryan Stork. The back slanted up and in between the hashes, thenceforth, and the QB went his way.
Bears rookie linebacker Christian Jones followed, undercutting the route. The 6’3”, 240-pound Florida State product would not keep the ball from reaching Vereen’s hands, but he would keep it from staying there.
The collision sent the ball out and New England’s field-goal unit in.
The next time the offense appeared on the field for another drive, Brady’s final one had been played. His Week 8 was complete. It would soon be for his teammates in all three phases, even if it wasn’t perfect.
There were three drops, an in-traffic incompletion and a miscommunication that glared offensively along the way, but all five of the lapses gave way to points in the 51-23 victory.
They were efficient. They were prolific. And in the process, Brady and the Patriots’ passing game proved that sometimes, they’re the same thing.
Like this: Like Loading...
Related
Tags: Brandon LaFell, Chicago Bears, Danny Amendola, Film Breakdown, Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, Shane Vereen, tim wright, Tom Brady
|
Tariq Asad, president of the Shuhada Foundation Trust associated with the notorious Lal Masjid, petitioned the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on August 7 seeking a court order against the airing of the Miss Veet Pakistan beauty pageant as well as various other entertainment-based TV programmes.
On the matter of the beauty pageant, the petition — a copy of which is available with DawnNews — reads: "This product [a hair-removal cream manufactured by the sponsor] aims and advertised asking women to remove body hair to make themselves more sexually appealing to [the] opposite gender, which is fundamentally shameful and against the injunction of shariah."
Apart from the beauty pageant, the petitioner has also called for a "ban [on] the exhibition of programmes titled Pakistan Idol, Voice of Pakistan and Turkish films dubbed in Urdu on Geo News, Capital News, Geo Kahani TV channels and the advertisement trailers of obscene Indian films on news channels."
Asad has further asked that the IHC direct the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to, "stop the exhibition of programs of competition of singing, dancing, fashion show and obscene advertisement being in violation of Articles 2-A, 14, 19 and 20 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973."
According to the petition, PEMRA has, "become entirely ineffective and unvigilant [sic] to control the behayai [shamelessness] of television channels."
"The electronic media has become a red light screen,” the petitioner complained, adding that television channels are "exercising and misusing their right to freedom of speech and expression and press [by] freely ignoring any moral values and limitations beyond the scope laid down in Article 19 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973."
The petition also moved that the Ministry of Information "be directed to appoint the chairmen, the members of the Censor Board and the members of [its various] committees from intellectuals, journalists, lawyers, doctors, engineers and ulema-e-deen/religious scholars."
Lal Masjid’s Shuhada Foundation usually deals with the media on behalf of Maulana Abdul Aziz, the suspended khateeb — prayer leader — of Lal Masjid, who continues to remain under observation of the authorities because of his inclusion in the Fourth Schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
|
Photo
WASHINGTON — Looking for your member of Congress? Try Jerusalem.
More than 80 members of the House are visiting Israel this month as guests of the American Israel Education Foundation, a charity affiliated with the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee. It is the largest number of members of Congress ever to make the trip during a single recess, according to the organizers.
The numbers reflect both the size of the freshman Congressional class, which accounts for 47 of the visitors, and the enduring efforts of Israel to court its most friendly ally, the United States Congress.
Having roughly one-fifth of the House visiting the region is particularly striking when the relationship between President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is strained. An effort by Mr. Obama to make peace between the Israelis and Palestinians fell flat this spring. Now the Palestinians are weighing a request to the United Nations Security Council to support a bid for statehood, leaving Washington in the uncomfortable position of blocking such a unilateral move while supporting democracy movements in other Arab nations.
“I think that what you have going on is a real bipartisan support for Israel in the Congress,” said Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the most powerful Jewish member of Congress.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
“The White House and president have not been as clear as where it stands and he stands on the relationship, and that has added interest on the part of the members,” Mr. Cantor said. “With Iran continuing to pursue nuclear capabilities, and with the upcoming vote in the U.N., which is a very destabilizing event, it is very important for us to be there and show what is at stake.”
|
Name: Megan
Age: 22
County of Residence: Allegheny County, formerly Indiana County
Preferred Pronouns: Miss
How do you describe your identity? Female, white, bisexual
Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I haven’t fully come out to my family yet because I grew up being told that it wasn’t ok to be gay. When I told my friends, they were accepting and it made it easier to feel comfortable.
How would you describe yourself NOW in terms of “being out”?As I moved to the city, I have been more freely accepting of telling people and letting them know I’m in a relationship. It’s still hard for me to start conversations about it, but I’m working on it.
Tell me about the first LGBTQ person whom you met. What impact did they have on your life? A friend from college was bisexual and she would let me talk to her about LGBTQ topics.
Past or present, favorite LGBTQ character or creator in television, film or literature? Please tell us why. Chris Culfer (Kurt/Glee), Eric Stonestreet (Cam/Modern Family)
How do you stay informed about LGBTQ issues? Internet: vlogs, blogs, news
Describe your geographical community. Urban, before I lived in a rural community that wasn’t as accepting
Describe your local or regional LGBTQ community. I feel as if my community is welcoming of LGBTQ individuals.
Have you ever experienced discrimination based on your identity? Specifically, in a job setting, when applying for housing or while in public. No.
Tell us about your access to health care in Western PA. Has it been LGBTQ competent (or not?) I have recently switched healthcare plans that my workplace offers, but haven’t used or look for LGBTQ friendly resources.
Are there issues impacting your LGBTQ neighbors that aren’t visible or part of the local dialogue? I don’t know.
What would you like to see elected officials do to improve life for LGBTQ Pennsylvanians? I would like to see them let the community know what resources are available for LGBTQ individuals.
Please share a lived experience, anecdote or fact about life as an LGBTQ person in your community. In my experiences, I have learned that a lot of individuals in this community have been very accepting and willing to help, all you have to do is ask. Speak up for things that you need and want.
Beyond discrimination, what other barriers create challenges for your LGBTQ neighbors? I don’t know personally, but maybe issues with churches.
What LGBTQ friendly resources are available for your neighbors? I don’t know.
What is your greatest fear for the LGBTQ community in Western Pennsylvania? That legislation will change marriage/healthcare/renting laws.
What is your greatest hope for the LGBTQ community in Western Pennsylvania? I hope that everyone can be freely accepted in the community and have all the resources that straight individuals have.
What can allies do to support your LGBTQ community? Make resources known.
How can gay men and lesbians support the bisexual, transgender and queer members of our community? Know that they can use the same resources.
What motivated you to take part in this project? I think it’s important to have a voice and stand up for your rights. I think that collecting data on our communities will help the LGBTQ community grow.
Finally, what question should I have asked? Please also share your answer. Maybe: how long you’ve identified with the LGBTQ community? 5 years.
Thank you, Megan.
Read the entire AMPLIFY LGBTQ Q&A archive.
Submit your own Q&A using our online form.
AMPLIFY LGBTQ is a series of blog posts designed to give a “signal boost” to the voices of our LGBTQ neighbors throughout Western Pennsylvania. These are glimpses in to the lived experiences of LGBTQ people in Western Pennsylvania as told in their own voices.
|
Working in Sweden: A Beirut vs Göteborg Special
I thought I'd share a few quirky differences between the work lives in Beirut and Göteborg.. I thought I'd share a few quirky differences between the work lives in Beirut and Göteborg..
Swedish and Lebanese cultures are very different. Well there's an understatement for you.In my previous post on the matter, I described Beirut and Göteborg as complete opposites. Now that I've started spending considerable amounts of time in an office, I thought I'd share a few quirky differences between the work lives in Beirut and Göteborg:Whenever you're tired at the office in Beirut, there is but one movement that never fails to compel you: To rest your head on your desk and take a nice fifteen minute nap to regain your energy. Don't even try to do that in Sweden, I was told it bears a very bad judgement. For all your napping needs, the company provides awithin the office premises. The napping room comes with a bed, yoga mats, etc.. all to satisfy your comfort needs.It is Swedish law that every company should provide its employees compensation for gym memberships, unless it chooses to provide a space for sports within the office premises. Naturally if you choose not to become a member in a gym, that money is simply lost on you. In short, that's the Swedish way of encouraging everybody to stay fit. If you prefer to run outdoors in the morning, don't worry, office showers are also provided to make sure you always smell good around your colleagues.In contrast, when was the last time you heard about one of your Lebanese coworkers keeping a tight workout schedule ? Yeah I thought so too..So not only do the Swedes want you to work out, they want you to eat right too. For instance, the company I work for constantly provides fresh fruits for the office. Bananas, oranges, pears, you name it.. and there's plenty for everyone. If I remember correctly, the only thing in abundance at the office in Beirut where I used to work was chocolate. Of course, the Beirut alternative is more delicious, but did you read that part about the gym ? Do you see a pattern ?It's not easy to explain fika to non-Swedes. "fika" literally means "to have coffee", but it's much more. You can think of it as a chance to have cake, cinnamon rolls, or any other sweet bakeries with your coffee and sit around chatting with your colleagues. I've heard somewhere that the law guarantees your right to two fifteen minute fikas a day without suffering retribution from your employer. If you're working in Lebanon and you're reading this, you're probably thinking "What's the big deal ? We take breaks and talk to each other all the time at the office". Well here's why:Here's an example for you. On my first day, I made myself a cup of tea, and while drinking it, the steel spoon kept sliding on the rim of my cup, which made that ringing rubbing noise spoons tend to make. That noise was louder than anything else in the entire place, I kid you not. Swedes don't seem to talk to each other much while they're working, unless they're working on something together and they want to discuss it.To put things into perspective, we had a basketball ring, a dartboard, a whole lot of stress balls (for throwing at each other, not the usual personal use), a couple toy guns, a Wii, etc.. lying around at the office in Beirut, someone was in charge of the music playing in the room, and we lived on the brink of a stress-ball war erupting between pretty much everybody who had quick enough hands.In Beirut, when you're bored, tired, or just don't feel like working, you can easily get up and talk to someone about anything and everything. In Sweden, you drink coffee.This is a sacred item in Swedish offices. The wonder machine that can make you anything from a coffee to a hot chocolate or mocha. This is the place to go for all bored/sleepy/addicted people.It is not uncommon to have an office dog. It is also not uncommon for someone to bring in their pet with them to work on occasion. Now you're probably thinking "That's got to contradict with that whole silent office thing", but no. You see Swedish dogs might as well be mute. In eighteen months in Sweden I've only heard dogs bark anywhere (street, bus, park..) about twice. And they NEVER misbehave at the office. I don't know how they do it, but those Swedes seem to know a thing or two about raising quiet dogs (and people, for that matter).I can't say that I've ever seen pets at the office in Lebanon, and then again, seeing as they tend to make more noise than their owners like to honk their horn while driving, I'm pretty sure it's better this way.So there you have it folks, my roundup of office life in Sweden. In short, Swedish offices are a great place to get work done. Unfortunately they don't seem to be so great for those moments in between work where you just want to have your mindless fun. Lebanese offices on the other hand are incredibly fun, and great places to make friends. I guess somewhere along all the banter that goes on, tight relationships tend to form. The Swedes are friendly and all, but I just can't picture myself running after one of my office mates having a water fight in the hall.I read somewhere that Scandinavian countries consume about 70% of the world's coffee production.I'm starting to understand why.
|
No sex is secret to long life, says 105-year-old Clara, Britain's oldest virgin
Just too busy: Clara Meadmore says sex seemed a 'hassle' and she's glad she did without it
Over the years many a centenarian has delivered their secret for a long life.
Not smoking, daily exercise, moderate drinking, being married (and sometimes not being married) have all had their champions.
But, at the ripe old age of 105, Clara Meadmore could trump the lot: a life of celibacy.
Miss Meadmore says she has always been too busy for relationships and thought of physical intimacy as a 'hassle'.
The former secretary, who will celebrate her birthday tomorrow, said she had no regrets about remaining a virgin and had turned down several marriage proposals.
Miss Meadmore said: 'People have asked whether I am a homosexual and the answer is no. I have just never been interested in or fancied having sex.
'I imagine there is a lot of hassle involved and I have always been busy doing other things. I've never had a boyfriend - I've never been bothered about relationships.'
She added: 'When I was a girl you only had sex with your husband - and I never married.
'I've always had lots of platonic friendships with men but never felt the need to go further than that or marry.
'Everything seems so fast these days. I don't know a lot about young people or the way they do things. I'm sure it's very different. I made my mind up at the age of 12 never to marry and I've not gone back on that.'
Miss Meadmore was born in Glasgow in 1903, two years after the death of Queen Victoria. She remembers hearing about the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 and the outbreak of the First World War. Her family emigrated when she was seven, first to Egypt, then Canada and later New Zealand. But Miss Meadmore returned to Britain alone in her twenties and worked as a secretary and housekeeper.
She said: 'I grew up in an era where little girls were to be seen and not heard so I had to learn to stand up for myself and earn my own living.
'Some men don't like that in a woman and before long I was too old to marry anyway.'
Instead of boyfriends, Miss Meadmore filled her time with reading, gardening, cooking and listening to the radio.
Yesterday her friend and former neighbour Josie Harvey, 72, said: 'When she was a little girl she told her mother that she would never marry and for Clara no marriage meant no sex. She is fiercely independent.
'Maybe never having a man to get under her feet has kept her young all these years. She has her hobbies and her friends and that is all she needs.
'She has always believed in doing things her own way and that has allowed her to live a long life. Clara listens to Radio 4 all day long and knows what is going on in the world better than most people in their 30s.'
Miss Meadmore trained as a secretary and served in the Army, undertaking administrative duties in Egypt during the Second World War. She was one of the first members of the Youth Hostel Association and a keen member of the Women's Institute.
Her only surviving family are two nieces in New Zealand who keep in touch by post.
Miss Meadmore will celebrate reaching 105 with a card from the Queen and a glass of wine with her friends at the Perran Bay nursing home in Perranporth, Cornwall.
But she is determined not to let things get out of hand. 'I'm hardly likely to get drunk and do something silly at my age,' she said.
|
Senator Lindsey Graham Defends NSA Surveillance By Arguing About Something Entirely Different
from the who-elected-this-guy? dept
"I believe we should be listening to terrorists, known terrorist emails, following their emails and following their phone calls. And if they're emailing somebody and the United States or calling a number in the United States, I would like to get a judge's position to monitor that phone call," Graham said on "Meet the Press" on NBC. "If we don't do that, another attack on our homeland is very likely."
We recently mentioned that Senator Lindsey Graham said he was happy that the NSA was collecting the data on his calls, because he doesn't speak to terrorists. Of course, that's an incredibly ignorant statement in many, many ways. However, Senator Graham is continuing to make very silly statements about the NSA surveillance program. During an appearance on Meet the Press, Graham defended the program because, he explained, we should be tracking terrorists:That's nice and all... but the things he discussed -- listening to terrorists, and getting info on their emails -- haveto do with the new programs that have been revealed. That kind of stuff was possible well before all of these new things came along. The NSA has long been able to do surveillance on such things. And, law enforcement has been able to go to a judge and get a wiretap order on phone calls. But that's not what has everyone concerned: it's the fact that this program collects data. It's not just collecting data on terrorists, and much of it doesn't require having to go to a judge to monitor specific information. Rather, broad collections of data are being pulled, so that the NSA can later go through them.It's shameful that Senator Graham would so misrepresent what this debate is about. Either he doesn't understand it (which is horrifying) or he's deliberately misleading the public about it (which is worse).
Filed Under: lindsey graham, nsa, nsa surveillance, terrorism
|
Addressing a large gathering of worshipers in Tehran on Friday, Ayatollah Khatami paid tribute to martyrs defending the holy Shiite shrines, saying Martyr Mohsen Hojaji proved that the third generation of Iranian youth after the 1979 Islamic Revolution is steadfast in reaching the revolution’s objectives.
The cleric further expressed his gratitude to world-renowned Iranian commander Major General Qassem Soleimani for his major role in the fight against Takfiri groups in Syria and said, “Harsh revenge awaits them (Daesh terrorists).”
The corrupt group (Daesh) is fighting against God and the Prophet, Ayatollah Khatami said, adding that God willing, the terrorists, particularly the one who killed Martyr Hojaji, will be annihilated.
The shrine of Sayyida Zeinab, a sister of Imam Hossein (AS), the third Shiite Imam, is located in Damascus. Iranian military advisers have played a decisive role in the protection of the holy shrine against terrorist attacks.
Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including Daesh, currently controlling parts of it.
According to a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.
In the meantime, Iran has remained a close ally of Syria and supports its legitimate government in the face of foreign-backed militancy.
|
Best Responsive WordPress Custom Login plugin to customize your WordPress Login Screen amazingly by adding own Logo / Brand identity, Background image, Customize Login form as you want! GS Custom Login plugin packed with tons of controlling options to create eye-catching Login Screen.
GS Custom Login plugin is simple, flexible & powerful.
Plugin Features
Screenshots (Settings Option)
Installation
Install GS Custom Login plugin as a regular WordPress plugin. Here is different ways to install GS Custom Login plugin :
* Go to GS Plugins > GS Custom Login > General Settings > Here you can enable / disable the plugin.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it allowed to change WordPress logo and text? Yes, WordPress allows changing login entire screen. You can install WordPress plugin GS Custom Login to perform your desired customization.
What should I do when GS Custom Login doesn't work after activating? Head to Settings > GS Custom Login > General settings option. Select ACTIVE from dropdown. When done, click save settings.
Do I need to size image according to any dimensions while upload image for background? No, You can upload any size of image for the login page. GS Custom Login has a system designed to cover your inputted image over the entire login background.
What will image size for the logo on the login page? If you are using the free version, you have to upload 80 X 80. Whereas you get supreme opportunity to use ANY size for the premium version of GS Custom Login.
How can I customize the plugin view when I need to add my own customization? It’s simple. You can customize each element of the plugin with ease. Just head to “Custom CSS” from GS Custom Login > Other Settings and add whatever styling you need.
I am not technically sound. Can you customize my login screen? Yes, To help you out I am always there. If you need any customization or want to request me to tailor my plugin your theme, contact me @ samdani1997 [at] gmail.com
Do I need to code to personalize login page? No, We’ve shifted a set of pre-built option to specify how your login screen looks. (PRO)
Does it allow to change login form position? Yes, GS Custom Login is packed with the ability to change login form position. (PRO)
Does the plugin permit me to change login form opacity to transparent? Yes, When you are in the Logo Form settings, you will find “Form Background Color” with an RGB input field. Where you have to insert the alpha color value of your desired color to turn yours from into transparent. For example, you have to provide 255,255,255,0.5. The last value the last (0.5) is the opacity value to make login form transparent.
|
Be the first to rate this recipe!
Introduction
Tasty and creamy take on a ham sandwich!
Tasty and creamy take on a ham sandwich!
Minutes to Prepare: 5 Minutes to Cook: 5 Number of Servings: 1
Ingredients
4 slices of reduced fat low sodium deli ham
2-3 tablespoons of fat free cream cheese
2 green onions diced
1 medium slice onion chopped
Directions
Dice green onions or chives and onion. Lay slices of ham on plate (Large slices cut so you have about 4 total). Spread cream cheese on each slice of ham the sprinkle green onions/chives and onion over cream cheese. Roll each slice of ham up with filling. You can cut them in to smaller bites if you really like finger food like I do! You can also experiment with other herbs and spices to create your own "herbed cream cheese".
Number of Servings: 1
Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user MCCOUBS26.
|
The existing first-past-the-post electoral system in India has outlived its utility, former chief election commissioner T S Krishnamurthy said, favouring proportional representation or candidates getting minimum percentage of votes to get elected. As per the first-past-the-post electoral system, the candidate with the most votes in each constituency wins.
Advertising
“It’s possible, why not? After all, the first-past-the-post (electoral) system which is in existence has outlived its utility because the person with one vote extra, with even 15 per cent of the votes polled can get elected,” he told PTI when asked about his views on proportional representation.
“Either proportional representation (based on the number of votes polled by political parties) or another method is that a person should have minimum 50 per cent of the votes polled to get elected.
“That 50 per cent is a high figure. I would say initially 33 per cent or 1/3 for the first five years. After five years, it must be 50 per cent of the votes polled, only then he will be declared (elected) so that he does not represent a caste, or a community or linguistic group; he represents the constituency better,” Krishnamurthy said.
Sharing his views of electoral reforms and cleaning up the system, he said in Palestine, 50 per cent of the people are elected nationally and the remaining constituency-wise.
Advertising
In India, for example, most of the elections are held constituency-wise, where the caste, or the language or the community to which candidate belongs dominates, he said. “Suppose you can have at least 25 to 30 per cent of our elected representatives on a national basis, if every Indian votes for a national leader, then at least this narrow outlook of legislators will disappear. It will improve the quality of democracy,” Krishnamurthy added.
|
Powered by nothing more than puffs of air, robots molded from paper and silicone rubber can bend, twist, grip and even lift more than 100 times their weight.
The pneumatic prototypes aren't as advanced as their metallic brothers, and the "soft" robots contain no electronics yet. But their creators, funded by Darpa, imagine applications where a soft-bot might be the best tool.
"If you want to go through a winding tube or rubble or some other tough environment that's difficult to reach, you need to be flexible," said chemist Xin Chen of Boston University, member of a team who describes their work in a Feb. 9 Advanced Functional Materials paper*.* "Soft robots can go a lot of places where hard robots cannot go."
Robots crafted from metal or other hard materials, filled with electronics and powered by electricity are the mainstays of robotics. They can build cars, carry heavy equipment and even defuse bombs. Yet in some environments, flexibility is crucial.
As a result, engineers have looked to nature for ideas, with models inspired by insects, birds, snakes, fish and even dogs. Whitesides and his team have already developed air-powered rubber robots that can constrict like snakes and undulate under obstacles (video below).
Their new work takes the soft robots a step further by incorporating paper, fabric and wire mesh to add strength and definition to silicone-molded shapes. After they're molded, the devices are hooked up to a simple compressed air source, such as a syringe.
Getting the soft robots to perform a particular action is a feat of origami: Folded in just the right way and glued in the right spots, for example, the researchers showed how a crinkled clump of silicone-soaked paper lifted a 2-pound weight. The force of the air required to drive it was roughly twice that of a human exhalation.
The team has also cylinders that blow into spheres, tubes that act like springs and compact stacks that turn into rigid rings or pipes.
In the future, the researchers hope to add wiring and electronics to bring even more functions to their forms.
The military is interested in such robots as weapons or spying devices, but beyond battlefields the researchers also envision shrinking their creations.
"In principle, you could scale down to microscopic or nanoscopic scales," Chen said. "You can't do the same with hard materials."
Images: Ramses V. Martinez et al./Advanced Functional Materials 1) Glued in the right places (dotted lines) and filled with air, a silicone-soaked piece of paper can take on highly specific shapes. 2) A paper robot bellows lifts 120 times its own weight.
Video: GMWGroupHarvard/YouTube
Citation: "Elastomeric Origami: Programmable Paper-Elastomer Composites as Pneumatic Actuators." By R. V. Martinez, C. R. Fish, X. Chen and G. M. Whitesides. Advanced Functional Materials. Published online Feb. 9, 2012. DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201202978
|
Many people passed under the sign to their deaths
A court in Stockholm has ruled that a Swedish man can be extradited to Poland to face trial over the theft of a sign from the Auschwitz death camp. Investigators accuse Anders Hogstrom, 34, of instigating the theft of the infamous Arbeit Macht Frei sign from the camp gates last December. The sign was recovered shortly afterwards, cut into three pieces. Mr Hogstrom, a former neo-Nazi leader, denies the claims and is likely to appeal, his lawyer said. He has three weeks to appeal, and if unsuccessful "the authorities have to come and get him and they have 10 days to do so", Swedish prosecutor Agneta Hilding Qvarnstrom said. The Stockholm district court said Mr Hogstrom could be extradited, on the condition that, if convicted, he would serve any prison sentence in Sweden, a demand Polish prosecutors have agreed to. Mr Hogstrom, who was arrested in February, said he was only acting as an intermediary who had been contacted to sell the sign, and that he got in touch with the Polish authorities when he realised it had been stolen. "I have [in] no way committed a crime. On the contrary. I have made sure that this sign could be returned," he is quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency. Mr Hogstrom helped found the far-right National Socialist Front in 1994, but later left the organisation. Outrage Five Polish men have already been arrested over the theft. The sign, weighing 40kg (90lb), was half-unscrewed, half-torn from above the death camp's gate. The 5m (16ft) wrought iron sign - the words on which translate as "Work sets you free" - symbolises for many the atrocities of Nazi Germany. A replica of the sign, which is being repaired, now sits on top of the entrance gate at Auschwitz and might remain there permanently as the original could be too fragile to withstand weather conditions, officials told the Reuters news agency. The theft caused outrage in Israel, Poland and around the world. More than a million people - 90% of them Jews - were murdered by the Nazis at Auschwitz in occupied Poland during World War II.
Bookmark with: Delicious
Digg
reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable version
|
Given all the attention recently focused on Tesla, I thought it would be interesting to see who is buying the Model S. Specifically, what are customers trading in for the Model S, or what other vehicles do Model S buyers have in their garage if they are adding to their fleet? The Model S conquest data, derived from Polk new vehicle registration data, are fascinating.
There are two ways of looking at the data. First, the pure conquest data show that the Model S is conquesting owners of Toyota (brand) vehicles more frequently than owners of any other brand on the road, followed by Mercedes-Benz and BMW owners (see table below). The Toyota conquests by the Model S are being driven by the Prius, which is the number one model conquested by the Model S. The Highlander and Sienna are fifth and sixth on the list. Interestingly, the Leaf ranks number seven on the model list, and the fact that the Prius and Leaf both rank so high on the Model S conquest list suggests that the S now gives hybrid/EV-inclined purchasers an opportunity to move up to a vehicle that is:
clearly a hybrid or electric, like their current model
more luxurious and upscale than their current car
more stylish as well
The second approach to the conquest data looks more deeply at the data and by so doing provides a more useful picture of the actual marketplace dynamics. This second approach compares a model's conquest share of all conquests with the same model's return to market share of all customers who returned to the market. In other words, is the model in question being conquested by the Model S at a faster or slower rate than the overall rate at which owners of that model return to the market? This calculation results in an entirely different list of top ten makes. The ten brands which are most likely to be conquested by the Model S, when compared to the rate at which their customers return to the market in general, are all either exotic or premium makes. Also, the conquest/return to market ratios for these makes are exceptionally high, suggesting they are much more likely to move to the Model S than the typical customer coming back into the marketplace. These data point unequivocally to the conclusion that Model S buyers are very well-off financially.
In summary, while the simple conquest data suggest the high-volume mainstream and premium makes are losing the most customers to the Model S, a comparison of conquest data with return to market data reveals that, in fact, the exotics are moving to the Tesla model at rates far above those of other brands.
Tom Libby is manager, loyalty practice and industry analysis, IHS Automotive
Posted 6 February 2014
|
A Spirit of Discernment Although forged in contact with the Spirit, a spiritual tradition is a human creation. It is therefore fallible, and trusting it uncritically is a form of idolatry. What the Doctrine and Covenants says of certain non-LDS scriptures and traditions is true of all spiritual traditions, including the scriptures and traditions of Mormonism: “there are many things contained therein that are not true” (D&C 91:2) which are best understood as “commandments of men” (D&C 46:7). This reality requires us to approach our tradition in a spirit of discernment. Where in the tradition do we hear the Spirit speaking to us? Where do we hear human ignorance, fear, prejudice, or will to power? Critics often disparage efforts at discernment as "cafeteria religion"—picking what appeals to you and ignoring what doesn't. True discernment, however, is a matter of personal revelation, not personal preference. The scriptures recommend a spirit of discernment when they exhort us to "prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (1 Thes. 5:21) and to test "whether any administration is from God" (D&C 129:9). On the other hand, our efforts at spiritual discernment are fallible, too. We must therefore be teachable as well as critical in our engagement with tradition. Our faith in personal revelation emboldens us to trust our convictions and best judgment at any given moment. But as we continue to listen, we may find, in the future, that the Spirit has something to teach us through elements of the tradition that now appear to us to be far removed from God's will. Related Topics: Personal Revelation
Heber C. Kimball: The time is coming when no man or woman will be able to endure on borrowed light. Each will have to be guided by the light within himself. Life of Heber C. Kimball (Salt Lake City: Kimball Family, 1888), 450 George Q. Cannon: Our Father does not ask you to walk in darkness nor by another's light, but it is His good pleasure to give each one of you the light of His Holy Spirit in your own souls. By this light you have a right to examine all things that you may hold fast to that which is good. Gospel Truth (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1987), 248 B. H. Roberts: We have reason to believe that the Lord deigns to communicate his mind and will unto men. But the Lord evidently proposes that man shall act here largely upon his own intelligence, exercise his own agency, and develop the powers, intelligent and moral, that are within him. . . . Hence I think it a reasonable conclusion to say that constant, never-varying inspiration is not a factor in the administration of the affairs even of the Church; not even good men, no, not though they be prophets or other high officials of the Church, are at all times and in all things inspired of God. It is only occasionally and at need that God comes to their aid. Defense of the Faith and the Saints (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1907), 1:525 Hugh B. Brown: [W]hile all members should respect, support, and heed the teachings of the authorities of the church, no one should accept a statement and base his or her testimony upon it, no matter who makes it, until he or she has, under mature examination, found it to be true and worthwhile; then one's logical deductions may be confirmed by the spirit of revelation to his or her spirit . . . An Abundant Life: The Memoirs of Hugh B. Brown (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1988), 140 Marion G. Romney: Pray for the spirit of discernment that you may hear the promptings of the Spirit and understand them, and then pray for courage to do them, to follow the guidance of the Spirit. “Seek the Spirit,” Ensign, May 1980, 50
|
Hello lovers and friends!
I’ll be going on a very long and overdue vacation out of the country. I’m so excited! I’ll be leaving for Italy, Paris, Belgium, Amsterdam, Prague and Hong Kong. I was lucky enough to find a good deal online and I just had to swoop. I mean if not now, when? Since I am pretty much gone the month of November, I just won’t be able to participate in any Black Friday, Cyber Monday or any other holiday sales, so I’m going to start mine early and maybe reward myself while I’m gone next month 🙂
Starting on Friday, October 17th at 12pm PDT, you can get the following deals:
Glitter love lacquers are 50% off and all other finishes are 20% off;
Nail treatments are 50% off;
Cut It Out Nail Vinyls are 25% off; and
Nail art accessories are 75% off.
Prices will already be marked down so there’s no coupon codes needed and this sale will end on Sunday, October 19th at 11:59 pm PDT. So be sure to treat yourself and get an early start on gift giving!
Now for some quick shop housekeeping news. While I am gone in November, the shop will remain open. I am going to have someone come in once or twice a week to help out with shipping and I am going to have her help me with responding to emails too (if it’s a more complicated matter, I’ll try to respond as soon as I can while I’m out of the country), but please take this into consideration when ordering in November.
BONUS!
If you follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed that I’ve embraced my inner nerd and have become planner obsessed!
One of my planner staples are my diary inserts from Piaric to help keep me organized. Here’s an example of them in action. Pia has been so great, she’s letting me giveaway a set of 2015 A5 sized planner inserts!
So here’s a quick giveaway! To enter, use the Rafflecopter widget below. But first, here’s some things you need to know.
There will be one winner;
Must be 18 years or older to enter;
International entries are permitted;
Giveaway ends at Friday, October 19 at 11:59 pm PST; and
Once a winner has been chosen and contacted, they will have 24 hours to claim their prize or it’ll be on to the next.
Sounds good, right? Now let’s get started!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
|
New Zealand
All Blacks head to the USA
ESPN Staff
The New Zealand Maori's have been in the USA this month ... next year it is likely to be the full All Blacks side © Getty Images Enlarge Article: All Blacks confirm date with Wales
The New Zealand board is in the process of negotiating to play a lucrative match in the USA next November with a game in or near New York the preferred option.
The All Blacks played a Test in Japan on the way to their European tour and it is likely that in 2014 they would play the equivalent match in the USA. The team is sponsored by US-based insurance giants AIG.
"Japan was very successful, we were very happy with that, and we will be looking for a similar game in North America this time next year," New Zealand Rugby Union boss Steve Tew told reporters in Paris. "We're advanced but there's still a bit to go. The hardest thing actually is who we play. We've got to sort that out first and foremost."
The game will fall outside the IRB's autumn window and so there is no obligation on clubs to release any players for the game. That causes difficulties with the opposition as it would be in nobody's interests for the All Blacks to face a weak opposition.
South Africa do not play matches outside the window, and while Australia would be available they are not believed to be being considered as the fixture would follow soon after three Bledisloe Cup games.
"It's likely to be against some sort of invitational side," Tew said. "We'll do our very best, but there will be a little bit of a compromise. No doubt some people will see what we're trying to achieve and accept it and others will be critical."
At least they are more sure where they want to play. "Our first preference is the East Coast and to play somewhere close to New York, but we've got to find the appropriate stadium. It's got to be available that weekend, and it's got to be big enough."
Tew sidestepped suggestions the game was being played because it would turn a large profit. "It's driven by the fact [coach] Steve [Hanson] would like another game, and it would be very helpful for us to play in the American market. AIG are based there, though we're not committed contractually to do so."
Hansen was enthusiastic. "The States is not somewhere we've been a lot, so it's an exciting place to go," he said. "What approach we take to that game, we'll have to see where we're sitting. It's an opportunity to really have a look at what happens at World Cup time, so do we just take 31 and deal with it, or if we're not quite satisfied where we are with the mix, do we take some younger guys again?
"By the time we have to pick that squad it's about 12 months away and we'll have answers to those questions."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd
|
B1A4’s Jinyoung will be making a cameo on “Idol Drama Operation Team”!
On May 14, the show’s production team explained, “Jinyoung will appear as an agency senior of the seven members in the drama ‘Let’s Walk the Flower Road,’ written by the members of ‘Idol Drama Operation Team.'”
This acting cameo is gathering interest, as he received positive reviews for his acting in “Moonlight Drawn by Clouds.”
Jinyoung also produced the title song of the girl group in the drama. While his previous songs “In the Same Place” and “When Cherry Blossoms Fade” are calm and lyrical, his new song will be a powerful track that gives girl crush vibes.
“Idol Drama Operation Team” is Korea’s first mission variety program in which seven girl group members work together to write the script for their own drama and act in it. Their drama is titled “Let’s Walk the Flower Road” (tentative title), and the seven members are Red Velvet’s Seulgi, MAMAMOO’s Moonbyul, I.O.I’s Jeon Somi, CIVA’s Kim Sohee, Lovelyz’s Soojung, SONAMOO’s D.ana, and Oh My Girl’s YooA. Other celebrities who will appear in the drama are Im Won Hee, Jang Won Young, Shin Hyun Joon, Jun So Min, Kwon Oh Joong, Dynamic Duo, Kim Chungha, Kim Jong Min, and Hyerim.
The variety show will premiere on May 29 KST through Naver TV, V Live, and YouTube.
Source (1)
|
This super-pretty illustration is from the talented Haruka-nee!
Happy New Year! It’s 2017! …in some time zones, that is. I still have 2 hours left to go, here in California. So, for me, it’s not 2017 just yet!
At the end of 2014, and again at the end of 2015, I posted an “Annual Report” about the blog’s activity. With just 2 hours left to go before 2017 begins, I’ve chosen to keep the tradition alive by writing an “Annual Report” for 2016, too!
Click “Continue Reading” to read some interesting bits of data about this blog’s activity in 2016!
First, overall views:
In 2014, this blog was viewed 184,000 times.
times. In 2015, this blog was viewed 29,988,586 times.
times. In 2016, this blog was viewed 49,337,919 times!
Next, unique visitors:
In 2014, this blog had 67,937 unique visitors.
unique visitors. In 2015, this blog had 8,400,668 unique visitors.
unique visitors. In 2016, this blog had 12,404,339 unique visitors!
Curious to know what day we got the most visitors?
In 2014, the busiest day of the year was July 2nd, with 10,441 views.
views. In 2015, the busiest day of the year was August 22nd, with 216,504 views.
views. In 2016, the busiest day of the year was June 1st, with 371,386 views!
Wow! What happened on June 1st? I know why we had so many views on August 22nd of 2015; that’s the day that Markiplier uploaded a popular video about Yandere Simulator. But what the heck happened on June 1st of 2016 to cause such a sudden spike? Maybe it was the Friendship and Betrayal video? I’m not sure! Maybe somebody in the comment section below can propose a good theory.
My longest “posting streak” was during May, when I updated the blog 18 days in a row to make up for the fact that I was late with an update. Hoo boy, that month was super busy!
In 2016, the most-viewed blog posts were:
Wow! Two fan art contests right at the end of the year got more views than anything else, even gameplay-related posts. That really surprises me! Maybe it’s because I used the “Click Here To Read More” button for the very first time. Right after that, the next most-popular post was me complaining annoying e-mails. I did that a LOT back in 2015; I’m glad I didn’t do it very much in 2016!
If we don’t count the Nemesis Contest or Pokemon Contest, the next most-popular blog post in 2017 was actually a post from 2016; the Quiet Contest Results. Wow, you guys love fan art contest! After that, the nest most-popular post was was Indestructible Rival 2. I hope you guys enjoyed that video!
Here’s where most of the blog’s traffic came from in 2016. For the most part, it’s quite different from where the blog’s traffic came from in 2015, but some of the main sources are still the same. Excluding search engine, it’s still true that more traffic comes from YouTube than all other sources combined!
In 2016, people from 230 different countries viewed this blog! Here are the top 10:
Honestly, it’s almost identical to last year, just with a few of the countries shuffled around! Once again, I’d like to say hello to the surprisingly large Yandere Simulator community in Russia!
Last year, I found it quite interesting to view the countries that visited this blog the lowest number of times? Let’s see what those countries are this time around. Wow! It’s embarrassing to admit it, but I don’t think I could locate most of those countries on a map! Those are “rare flags”, indeed!
Somebody in Vatican City viewed this blog 7 times! Could it be…?
I’ve just noticed a shocking coincidence! In 2016,this blog was viewed 25 times in North Korea – exactly the same number of times it was visited by North Korea in 2015! I’ll repeat exactly what I said last year: Internet access in North Korea is limited to government usage only! The only conclusion I can draw is that someone in the North Korean government is a fan of Yandere Simulator! I won’t let you down, Glorious Leader!
Over the course of the past year, the latest debug build of the game has been hosted on several different websites: mediafire.com, yanderesimulator.com, yanderehost.com, etc. Last year, it was extremely easy to count the exact number of times that the game was downloaded, because the only times I ever linked to these websites, I was linking directly to the game’s zip file. But, this year, I linked to many different pages all across those websites. So, this year, it is now much more difficult to calculate how many times the game was downloaded.
Here’s an overview:
Clicks to mediafire.com: 6,072,438
Clicks to yanderesimulator.com: 1,730,050
Clicks to yanderehost.com: 574,120
Clicks to mega.nz: 116,778
Clicks to docs.google.com: 80,125
Clicks to onedrive.live.com: 55,814
Yandere Simulator’s launcher has a counter inside of it that counts the number of times a user has downloaded a new build of the game. As of today, that number is 2,067,839.
If we add up all of those numbers, we get a whopping 10,697,164!!! However, to be fair, we must consider the fact that some of those clicks didn’t result in the game getting downloaded. (Some of the clicks to yanderesimulator.com could have been to the About page, for example.) Also, some of those clicks may have resulted in corrupt downloads, causing the user to click the link again to download the file a second time.
Even if we exclude every single click to yanderesimulator.com and exclude the launcher just in case the download counter is inaccurate, we still land at a super-high number like 6,899,275!!! I think it’s safe to say that Yandere Simulator was downloaded somewhere between 7 million and 10 million times in 2016!
So, what did I write at the end of last year’s Annual Report?
“I’d love to finish implementing all core gameplay mechanics by March 1st of this year, and launch a Kickstarter by April 2nd of this year.”
Wow! I was way off. A Kickstarter definitely didn’t happen last year! In the second half of 2016, I predicted that Osana would be finished before the year ended, and that I’d be prepared for a Kickstarter by April. Well, I definitely didn’t hit my goal with Osana, but I hope to finish her sometime in February!
Maybe you don’t care about any of the information in this blog post; maybe you just want to know when the next build is coming out. I’m aiming to release it on January 1st at the soonest, and January 2nd at the latest!
Here is the last time you’ll hear me say this in 2016: Thank you very much for following the development of Yandere Simulator!
|
Valve Slammed By Consumer Protection, Issued Cease And Desist On Anti-Consumerist EULA By William Usher Random Article Blend
Readers have been keeping us on our toes about big corps who make decisions that aren't always in the best interest of consumers, and remember, gamers are consumers. The crazy part about is that I never thought Valve would be in one of these kind of articles given that usually the “anti-consumerist” gig is relegated to the likes of Zynga, Electronic Arts, Activision, Capcom and recently, Blizzard. Anyway, the latest tip concerns German consumer advocacy group vzbv, the same group who Diablo III stating that the game didn't properly convey that it required an always-on connection.
In this case, following the
According to German sites
According to the vzbv...
When logging in, users receive a pop-up window pointing to approve the amended Steam Terms of Service and the Valve privacy policy. Alternatively, the player could select the "Cancel" button, but it also no longer have access to your own player account. The opinion of the vzbv disadvantaged especially those players who have purchased over the years by Valve Software and use a single account.
The vzbv further states that it's “account coercion” given that a player is forced to sign the EULA and have their games restricted to a single account. As mentioned, if you click “cancel” on that EULA you lose access to ALL your games. This puts players between a rock and a hard place, because if Valve ever decides to go to the dark side, all your games will go with them and there's nothing you can do about it.
More than anything, this “threat” is more-so to drag out the dirty laundry of the business dealings and consumer repercussions attached to legal lingo within EULAs, insofar that within the public eye it gets people riled up and forces them to have to address these less than savory institutions of running a business.
I'd like to see how Valve handles this situation. And as mentioned many times before, every other medium that deals with non-consumable consumer products allows the customer to trade-in, sell-off, auction or give away the product. However, that's not the case with digital video games. I'd like to hope that gamers and gaming companies can walk away from this ordeal without it getting nasty, especially since it's gaming's number one loved company involved.
I'm hoping things turn out for the best for gamers. In the end, it's your money you spent and you don't deserve to be nickel and dimed no matter who it is or what they're selling. With that said, I've already purchased and equipped a used level 10, chain-linked, flame-proof jockstrap. Gaben fanboys...flame away!
Back in August Valve sent out a new End User License Agreement for the terms of service regarding Steam and Steam user accounts. Because of Valve's good standing with consumers, nary a gamer mounted a protest despite just about everyone making comments about how unfair it seemed that our own games that we paid for would be held at ransom if we didn't agree to the new EULA (Yeah, Cliffy, that all digital future ain't sounding all that hot now, is it?) Well, the German consumer advocacy group, vzbv, has issued an ultimatum to Valve: they either change their consumer policies or face the consequences.Readers have been keeping us on our toes about big corps who make decisions that aren't always in the best interest of consumers, and remember, gamers are consumers. The crazy part about is that I never thought Valve would be in one ofkind of articles given that usually the “anti-consumerist” gig is relegated to the likes of Zynga, Electronic Arts, Activision, Capcom and recently, Blizzard. Anyway, the latest tip concerns German consumer advocacy group vzbv, the same group who hammered Blizzard back in July over false advertisement ofstating that the game didn't properly convey that it required an always-on connection.In this case, following the European Union supreme court ruling that all digital software licenses should be eligible for resale amongst consumers, Valve promptly had their EULA changed in August to protect themselves against class-action lawsuits and to nullify any adherence to the abidance of tools, software or means in which to transfer a product service license from one user to next. Well, consumer protection wasn't having any of that.According to German sites Heise Online and vzbv , it's reported that Valve has until September 26th of next week to give a “desist declaration” of their current EULA for users.According to the vzbv...The vzbv further states that it's “account coercion” given that a player is forced to sign the EULA and have their games restricted to a single account. As mentioned, if you click “cancel” on that EULA you lose access to ALL your games. This puts players between a rock and a hard place, because if Valve ever decides to go to the dark side, all your games will go with them and there's nothing you can do about it.More than anything, this “threat” is more-so to drag out the dirty laundry of the business dealings and consumer repercussions attached to legal lingo within EULAs, insofar that within the public eye it gets people riled up and forces them to have to address these less than savory institutions of running a business.I'd like to see how Valve handles this situation. And as mentioned many times before, every other medium that deals with non-consumable consumer products allows the customer to trade-in, sell-off, auction or give away the product. However, that's not the case with digital video games. I'd like to hope that gamers and gaming companies can walk away from this ordeal without it getting nasty, especially since it's gaming's number one loved company involved.I'm hoping things turn out for the best for gamers. In the end, it's your money you spent and you don't deserve to be nickel and dimed no matter who it is or what they're selling. With that said, I've already purchased and equipped a used level 10, chain-linked, flame-proof jockstrap. Gaben fanboys...flame away! Blended From Around The Web Facebook
Back to top
|
The country used to be unanimous in rejecting gay marriage. But that consensus, like the polar ice sheets, is showing some cracks. Vermont recently became the fourth state to allow gays to wed, and New York will probably be next. Elsewhere, marriage remains as Miss California prefers—solely between a man and a woman.
It's at moments like this that the framers of the Constitution begin to look even wiser than usual. Somehow they anticipated that people in Massachusetts would not want to live under exactly the same laws as people in Mississippi. So they set up a system known as federalism, which allows different states to choose different policies. Thus we simultaneously uphold majority rule and minority rights.
This, at least, is how federalism is supposed to operate—letting subsets of the national population get their way in their own locales. There's only one hitch: In this case, it doesn't quite work that way.
Why not? Because of a huge imbalance created by that longtime nemesis of state sovereignty—the federal government. Under the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Virginia has complete authority to deny the privileges and responsibilities of marriage to same-sex partners. But Iowa doesn't have the complete authority to grant them.
Oh, Iowa can provide recognition to gay marriages under all its laws and policies. But that's a surprisingly small part of what marriage encompasses. Under federal law, there are more than 1,100 rights and privileges that go with being a husband or wife. And none of them is available to married same-sex couples.
Under federal law, a person may transfer property to a spouse tax-free. Married couples may file their income taxes jointly. Someone whose spouse dies is assured Social Security survivor's benefits. A married person has the authority to make medical decisions for an incapacitated partner.
Or say you're an American citizen living in this country who marries a foreigner. Normally, you would be entitled to bring your beloved to this country to live permanently and become a citizen.
But if you're both of the same sex, you can forget all of the above. Even though Iowa might like to put heterosexual and homosexual married couples on the same footing, it can't, because the federal statute blocks the way.
"In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States," says DOMA, "the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife."
That decree may sound reasonable: Since most Americans and most states reject same-sex marriage, federal policy should as well. But it conflicts with how the nation has handled marriage up till now, which is to leave it up to individual states to decide who may wed—and then honor those diverse choices.
Some states, for instance, allow marriages between first cousins; others forbid it. Some states allow 15-year-olds to marry with parental consent, while most set the minimum age higher.
And the feds? They have consistently observed a policy of staying the hell out. Washington doesn't tell Colorado and New York which marriages it will acknowledge. Colorado and New York tell it.
Not so with same-sex unions. Under DOMA, the federal government insists that some marriages are not marriages.
That's particularly hard to justify because the other major provision of the law bends over backward to protect state authority over matters marital. It says no state is obligated to recognize a same-sex marriage that took place somewhere else. Gays married in Vermont magically become single when they venture into New Hampshire.
This part of the law goes beyond the norm to accommodate different preferences. Usually, states are obligated to enforce contracts made in other states. Back in the segregationist years, Southern states often honored interracial marriages transacted beyond their borders even though they regarded them as "so unnatural that God and nature seem to forbid them."
Given the strong feelings about gay marriage, the local option is the best option. States that abhor the idea should be free to implement policies reflecting that sentiment. But the other side should have exactly the same prerogative: giving both heterosexual and homosexual couples access to marriage in full.
Our system, unlike Mao's China, is supposed to let a hundred flowers bloom. But for the best growth, the federal sun has to shine on all of them.
COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
|
Vanity Fair's Hitchcock Classics Photo Spreads
The latest issue of Vanity Fair includes a set of photo spreads featuring today's Hollywood actors recreating classic Hitchcock scenes in an article titled The 2008 Hollywood Portfolio: Hitchcock Classics. These photos are as good as anything Annie Leibovitz has photographed, which is amazing to say, and are quite a cool set to browse through. Everyone from Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow to Naomi Watts to Emile Hirsch and James McAvoy to Scarlett Johansson and Javier Bardem are featured in this set. Whether you love Hitchcock or whether you love A-list actors, you need to check these out. It's rare that we feature anything like this, but these are just too cool to pass up.
Thanks to the ohnotheydidnt blog for scanning the photos and to SlashFilm for showing us the way. For full-size versions, pick up a copy of the March issue of Vanity Fair on newsstands now. Otherwise, enjoy the photos below!
Charlize Theron in Dial M For Murder
Scarlett Johansson and Javier Bardem in Rear Window
Naomi Watts in Marnie
Keira Knightley and Jennifer Jason Leigh in Rebecca
Emile Hirsch and James McAvoy in Strangers on a Train
Renée Zellweger in Vertigo
Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. in To Catch a Thief
Tang Wei, Josh Brolin, Casey Affleck, Eva Marie Saint, Ben Foster, Omar Metwally and Julie Christie in Lifeboat
Jodie Foster in The Birds
Seth Rogen in North by Northwest
Marion Cotillard in Psycho
I really do love this photo series. My personal favorites are Seth Rogen in North by Northwest and Emile Hirsch and James McAvoy in Strangers on a Train. Those two both look great with the new actors and are just well-shot scenes as is. Hopefully Vanity Fair puts out some more awesome photo sets like this again in the near future.
1 crAzeimutant on Feb 8, 2008
2 Dom on Feb 8, 2008
3 Alex Billington on Feb 8, 2008
4 Melinda Seckington on Feb 8, 2008
5 Heckle on Feb 8, 2008
6 Joseph on Feb 8, 2008
7 Ryan on Feb 8, 2008
8 Nic on Feb 8, 2008
9 Zach D. on Feb 8, 2008
10 Maxine on Feb 10, 2008
11 carlos benjamin on Feb 10, 2008
12 Benny on Feb 11, 2008
13 kara on Feb 12, 2008
14 Jun on Feb 13, 2008
15 Jack Moore on Feb 14, 2008
16 jack moore on Feb 14, 2008
17 Adrienne on Feb 14, 2008
18 Ellen on Feb 14, 2008
19 Brad on Feb 18, 2008
20 Ali on Feb 21, 2008
21 kelly moore on Mar 29, 2008
22 Mihoriel on Apr 14, 2008
23 Rukmini on Apr 29, 2008
24 Jackie on May 3, 2008
25 apers on Jul 9, 2008
26 harryfielder on Sep 16, 2008
27 Bobby Simpson on Feb 4, 2009
28 blukehar on Sep 29, 2009
29 Itsashirt t shirts on Jan 13, 2010
Sorry, no commenting is allowed at this time.
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.